Fight for Survival (Remake)
by Wraith002
Summary: [Adopted from DemonFireX] Chris had never expected much from his life, deciding to live in the moment and worry about the here an now. So he never expected a freak anomaly to throw him into the zombie apocalypse. Now every day is a battle to survive, and his only hope to keep himself and the little girl under his care alive is to fight every step of the way with everything he has.
1. Prologue

_**A/N: Many of my readers out in cyberspace have wanted me to start a Walking Dead fic for some time now. And it seems fate decided to fall into my lap when I contacted my old friend DemonFireX for a little advice and discovered that he was putting a couple of his old stories up for adoption given that he's left the Fanfiction scene.**_

 _ **Therefore, I am proud to say, I have officially adopted Fight for Survival. With the stipulation of keeping the name as it is and ensuring my fellow author isn't forgotten, and keep it a crossover for both the game series and the show, I'm going to be working hard to improve on an already awesome story and repost it for the masses. Granted, the OC has been changed to one of my own, but with a similar backstory as the original from DFX.**_

 _ **Many of you who are fans of the first posting of this story will see a lot of things haven't changed much in the beginning. But as time goes on you'll begin to see the changes I've made that will slowly make this fic my own. There is so much in the original plot that could be changed, and I never overlook an opportunity to make my own work happen.**_

 _ **So, without further ado, let the rebirthing begin!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead.**_

 **Prologue:**

25-year-old Christopher Lachance opened his eyes, his vision slowly swimming back into focus as he yawned loudly and sat up on the small couch of his one bedroom apartment. The tv had been left on and was currently showing the main menu of the latest season of The Walking Dead that he had bought the day before, his Xbox One humming loudly in the quiet living room.

Standing up, he bent back a bit until he felt his back pop in a few places then stretching his arms to the sides to wake them up. The clock on the wall above the entertainment center read that it was _9:33AM_ and reminded him that he had to be at work in another hour.

"Damn, last time I stay up all night catching up on the series." he muttered to himself, walking over to the game system and switching it off before heading into the bathroom to finish waking up and getting ready for the day.

His apartment was small, but comfortable for just him. He'd been living in Atlanta for the last two years on his own after dropping out of college. An action that had caused a lot of friction between him and his family.

The Lachance's were a very well off family, Chris was the youngest of two children with an older brother who was in school to be a neurosurgeon. Their parents were well known in their community and kept themselves in what they believed to be the highest standards.

But that was something Chris didn't want to be a apart of. He was the black-sheep of the family, his grades in school weren't ever good enough, neither were his hobbies, friends or any plans for the future that he wanted for himself. His folks had plans for him, and he didn't want any part of them.

When he refused to go into the profession that his dad wanted him to be in, he was threatened to be cut off from the family funds and would be left on his own. Chris just stared into his father's eyes a moment before turning on his heel, his dorm room was fully packed in an hour, loaded into his car and he was gone.

That had been the last time he had spoken to anyone in his family. He was sick of the mind games, the mental and emotional abuse, and the feeling of not leveling up to their standards. They wanted to cut him off? They failed to realize that he was very capable of standing on his own two feet without their money.

He found his current home not long after breaking away from everyone, finding a job at a local auto body shop that paid more than enough for his expenses while continuing his dream of being in the MMA.

Even while in high-school, he frequented the gym for personal fitness sakes, but had found himself interested in Mixed Martial Arts and had taken to it like a duck to water. But knowing his family would give him hell for it he kept it a secret, improving his skills and strengths whenever he could.

Now all these years later, he had been apart of several amature matches which had helped him catch the eye of several sponsors that would help him get into the professional circuit.

Stepping out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist, he wiped at the fogged up mirror and got a good look at himself. The last two years had been good to him, his form a bit ripped from all the work and exercise he had put himself through which had caught the eyes of a lot of women that came through the shop were he worked and the gym down the street he went to twice a week.

Many would consider his life boring and mundane, but to him it was comfortable and he had decided to live in the moment instead of stressing too much about the future. And despite his upbringing, he was instilled with a good moral compass and had a good heart because of it.

Some would say he didn't have a real purpose in the world, but his reply would have been that he just hadn't found it yet.

After throwing on his steel-toed work boots, a pair of jeans and a plain-black t-shirt, Chris went out to the kitchen and made himself a quick breakfast before leaving his apartment and heading down to the parking lot where his car was waiting.

"Hey, Chris!" the blonde perked up and saw one of his neighbors/friends Mark outside his apartment smoking a cigarette.

The two became friends not too long after Chris had moved. They'd all hang out once a week and just do whatever came to them at the time, Mark had also been to a few of the matches the college dropout had taken part in along with his girlfriend Abby.

"Headin' into work?" Mark asked taking another drag.

"Yeah, got a weeks worth of vacation coming thankfully. I got that match two towns over and I need to be ready for it." Chris replied while taking out his car keys.

Mark smirked, "Me an Abby wouldn't miss it. You still coming by tonight? Mid-Season finally of Walking Dead's on."

Chris chuckled, ever since he was a kid he loved the concept of the 'zombie-apocalypse'. Watching movies and playing video games that depicted such events growing up, he held strongly to it even now.

AMC's series based from the graphic novels was very compelling and he had been watching it since it first aired, he also heard about the game episodes on Xbox Live and had been considering downloading them during his time off work.

"I'll bring the beers, see ya later Mark." he said getting into his car and heading out for the day.

Back in his apartment, the young man's Xbox suddenly kicked on. The green power light located on the front of the device glowed brightly before it started blinking at one second intervals, a loud hum filling the room as it began working in overdrive.

X

It was around midnight when Chris dragged himself through the front door of his apartment. Work had been a bit rough, two cars with cracked engine blocks that needed to be repaired, another needed extensive frame work, and one poor bastard had cracked his rear-axel in half attempting to do off road tricks.

Luckily he had managed to get everything he needed to done, said his goodbyes to his friends at the shop before finally starting his vacation. Stopping at the store and grabbing a couple of six packs before meeting up with everyone at Matt and Abby's apartment.

The end of the mid-season finally was a one hell of a ride, and left a lot of them wondering what the hell was going to happen next. Chris personally wouldn't have minded squaring off against the Negan, give the bat-wielding bastard a beat down he wouldn't forget before bashing his own head in with Lucielle.

Chris shook his head and rubbed his temple, "Gotta lay off the zombie shit, now I'm thinking up non-realistic fantasies..." heading into the living room and dropping his keys on the table by the couch, he paused when he heard a soft, yet loud humming echoing around him.

Looking toward the tv, he saw that his Xbox was on, the green light in the center glowing brightly and blinking every other second.

"What the hell? Didn't I shut you off?" he wondered, heading over to the console and finding the thing was almost burning to the touch from overheating. He pressed the power-button again only for the humming and blinking to persist. "Huh..." grabbing the remote, he switched the tv on and checked to see if something was malfunctioning.

The main home screen appeared, his avatar waving at him while standing on an invisible pedestal with all the different options surrounding it. A second later a window popped up covering everything. **'Download Complete'**

"Download? Must have been an update or something." Chris mumbled as he picked up a controller and canceled the screen, going into his hard drive menu to see what had been added.

Settling back and getting more comfortable, he perked up when another screen suddenly appeared. **'Warning: Malfunction Detected. Do you wish to continue? A: Yes, B: No'**

Shrugging it off, he pushed the A button on his controller and the screen vanished. His Xbox hummed even louder than before, so loud that it filled the whole room like a hundred pissed off hornets.

Chris gripped the sides of his head, the device in his hands falling to the floor as a headache the likes of which he had never felt before ripped through his skull like a meat grinder.

Falling to his side, eyes clenched shut as the pain and the noise got worse, glowing cracks started to split open along the outer casing of the game system. The tv screen shook and sparked as one final window appeared. **'How will you survive?'**

The Xbox glowed brightly one final time before exploding in a large flash of green-white light, spreading throughout the whole room and making it too blinding to see anything.

Moments later, the light slowly faded. Revealing the smoldering husk of the gaming console, the tv above it cracked and no longer functioning with sparks coming out of it. The power all throughout the apartment complex had gone out plunging the whole building into total darkness and startling all of the residents.

Across the floor from the entertainment system was a blackened scorch mark in the carpet where the occupant of the one apartment once laid.

Chris Lachance had completely vanished without a trace.

X

Pain...that was the first conscious thought that Chris could register as he came to. His brain felt several sizes too big for his skull and had the feeling of being crushed in a vise. Body feeling completely numb, making it hard to figure out where he was.

Opening his eyes slowly, his vision swam with various colors and shades before settling into focus. He blinked a couple of times as he tried to figure out just what the hell had happened.

Instead of looking up at the ceiling of his apartment in his living room, he found himself instead laying on his back in a forest, a small canopy of trees several feet above his head blocking out what rays of sunlight that was streaming down onto the grass he was now laying on.

"Wha...?" Chris mumbled as feeling started seeping back into his limbs. Flexing his fingers first, then his hands and feet, going through every motion to be sure that his whole body was still functioning properly before rolling on to his side and sat up slowly on his knees to get a better look around. "What the hell...happened? Where am I?" he muttered while gripping the side of his head, the pain from before still pounding strong before slowly fading away.

The songs of birds chirping in the branches above and the feeling of grass under his hands made him realize that he wasn't dreaming. Dreams weren't _this_ vivid. With that in mind he tried to figure out how he had gotten here and where exactly _here_ was.

Standing up slowly, Chris staggered a step forward and used a nearby tree for support as he got feeling back in his legs. _"Christ...did someone slip me a roofie at Mark and Abby's last night?"_ Sweeping his glance along all of the foliage around him, he saw a small opening in the trees roughly ten meters away which probably led to a clearing, or hopefully civilization so he could find out where he was.

Finding his footing, Chris began picking his way along the uneven terrain toward the opening. "I swear, if the guys from the shop pulled some kind of fucking prank on me there will be hell to pay." he growled while climbing over a downed tree and continuing forward. He looked up and saw that the light had started fading already, from what he could tell the sun was starting to set somewhere in the distance.

"That doesn't make sense, it was midnight when I got home...have I been out for an entire day?" he wondered as he picked around a thorn bush. The snapping of a branch made him spin around and look back the way he came, but there wasn't anything there.

However, the birds that had been chirping were now missing. In fact the whole forest seemed to be in a state of silence that had his instincts on high-alert all of a sudden.

"Hello?" he called out, looking everywhere for anyone. When no one answered he turned back to the opening in the trees and pushed forward, his feet moving a little more quickly than before.

Normally this kind of thing didn't bother him, he'd been hiking and mountain climbing before and knew all about how to be safe in the wild. But something about the situation didn't sit well with him, a forest shouldn't be this quiet, there weren't any animals, insects...nothing.

Almost as if something had scared them all off.

Shaking off the bad vibes he was getting, Chris walked through the treeline and found himself facing a more brightly lit section of the wooded area. More spaces in the canopy of trees above allowed more light to shine down revealing several ridges, hills and large stones. And off to the far left was a large slope that led up to a guard rail above.

A smirk lit up his face, a guard rail ment a road, and a road meant a way back home. He started moving around the trees and rocks while making his way toward the slope, rounding another wide trunk only to stop mid-stride.

At the base of the steep incline was the mangled wreck that had once been an Atlanta Georgia police cruiser. The tail end of the vehicle was smashed into the dirt and crushed up toward the back window that was completely shattered, the roof was caved in and the driver's side door was barely hanging by twisted hinges.

Chris had seen a fair number of car wrecks similar to this and knew what had happened, and the large grooves carved into the dirt all leading up to a torn opening in the guard rail at the top proved it.

The driver must have lost control for one reason or another and went through it before rolling down the steep hill, coming to rest at the bottom.

Swallowing in an attempt to wet his dry throat, he approached the wreck and began looking around for the driver. It was even worse up close, the inside looked just as bad as the outside and there didn't appear to be any sign of the officer. However there was a couple of bloody handprints around the door and steering wheel.

Looking down to the ground, Chris found a small pool of blood in the grass. A 12-gauge shotgun laid next to it along with a stray shell that looked to have been dropped mid-load.

"Looks like they were hurt...but why would they take out their weapon?" he wondered picking up the gun, the faint smell from the barrel telling him that it had been fired recently.

A soft groan perked his ears up and he snapped his head to the side where it had come from. He saw a trail of blood that led from the car, a couple of meters away toward a tree that was surrounded by a small cluster of rocks.

And among the rocks was a man in a police uniform laying face down in the dirt.

"Oh shit!" Chris was moving before the words completely left his mouth, the shotgun dropping from his hand while he ran over to the downed man and kneeling next to him.

The man had greying hair and was bald at the top of his head, his skin was ashen pale which was most likely caused by all the blood that he had lost and his left arm was bent at an odd angle.

"Officer? Hey, officer?! Can you hear me?!" he said shaking the prone man lightly to try and get a reaction. Chris pressed his fingers to the officer's neck in search of a pulse, feeling along the oddly wax-like and clammy texture of the man's skin hoping to find a heart beat.

After a few seconds of trying he pulled his hand away, feeling the blood drain from his face. "Fuck...he's dead." Chris muttered sitting back on his hunches, running his other hand down his face and taking a deep breath while he tried to figure out what to do now.

A groan from the downed man pulled him from his thoughts instantly. "Officer?" he asked touching the man's shoulder and leaning down to look at his face. The mans hand twitched and his head rose slowly-

He then lunged at the younger man, an animalistic growl coming from deep in his throat as he attempted to grab at Chris who threw himself back out of his reach.

"WHOA! WHAT THE FUCK!" he shouted, falling back on his ass and scrambling back as the officer raised himself on his arms. Showing that half his face had been torn off revealing red-pink and still bleeding muscle underneath. His eyes were filmed over with a pale, blue-white color that locked onto the young fighter as a rumbling groan filled with need and hunger rose from his throat.

 _"No..."_ Chris thought with his heart hammering in his chest and blood freezing in his veins. _"No...their not real! This can't be real!"_ Bloodied teeth snapped viciously as the creature began crawling toward him. The fighter crawled back with everything he had, putting as much distance between him and it as much as he could.

Real or not, he didn't want to take the chance of the thing getting within grabbing, or biting, distance.

His back hit the side of the police cruiser leaving him with nowhere else to go, the creature continued to crawl after him, intestines from its torn stomach trailing behind it leaving another trail right next to the one from before.

Chris looked everywhere for something, anything that he could use as a weapon, eyes landing on the shotgun he found before, he wasted no time in picking it up, pressing the stock to his shoulder as he aimed at the officer.

"Stay the fuck away from me!" he shouted as the creature continued to draw closer, oblivious to the firearm in it's trek for food. He pulled the trigger and was rewarded with a light click meaning the weapon was empty.

"Shit!" he cursed before remembering the stray shotgun shell he saw laying nearby.

The undead officer was drawing ever closer, there was only a couple of feet between them as Chris searched hastily for the stray shell. Managing to find it on his opposite side, he quickly jammed it into the chamber and racked the pump, he took aim at the creature as it reached out and grabbed his right foot.

 _Boom!_ The weapon kicked against his shoulder and the officer's head was blown open with a fountain of blood, bone and grey matter. Splattering gore across the ground behind him before the body collapsed with the top right half of the skull completely gone.

Breathing heavily, Chris lowered the spent shotgun, his hands shaking as he looked down at the corpse.

Dark blood oozing out of the destroyed head and spreading into a wide pool under it. "I...I'm dreaming..." he said to himself. "This has to be a dream. I fell asleep on my couch and I had too much walking dead on the brain and this is the outcome." He leaned forward and banged the back of his head against the car, wincing when he felt the impact but everything around him remained the same.

"God, what the hell is all this? How did I get here?" he asked himself for what felt like the eighth time.

While he looked at the now completely dead cop, Chris saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Looking up through the spaces amongst the trees, he saw a small form in the distance looking his way from the top of a small hill.

"HEY! Get help! There's been a shooting!" he called out to the person as they turned around and disappeared out of sight.

The fighter pulled himself to his feet using the car as support, the sounds of shuffling feet and breaking twigs could be heard off to the right. Chris looked up and saw movement amongst the trees, a small group moving into the light revealing several pale, rotting corpses staggering through the foliage. Arms raised and mouths agape as they closed in.

"Oh shit," He turned to the other side and saw three more monsters skulking out into the open, all of them drawn out from the gunshot and shouting that had happened.

A pair of torn arms shot out of the shattered back window, handcuffs still binding the hands as they tried to grasp at the young fighter who stumbled back and tripped over the corpse he had shot earlier.

Adrenaline rushing through his system, Chris scrambled back to his feet before spinning on his heel and running full speed toward where he had saw the person in the distance. All around him more corpses were stumbling and shuffling their way through the forest, hunger and the promise of fresh meat driving them while the fighter kept moving. Vaulting over rocks and a few downed trees as he kept a safe distance from the coming horde.

One corpse laid slumpt against one of the trees reached out to grab him as he ran past, one of its arms severed at the wrist with bones sticking out of the torn stump. Chris avoided it easily, but almost ran headfirst into another that had once been a woman. Its lower jaw ripped completely off and its right eye hanging from the sunken socket while it shuffled toward him.

The fighter snapped his foot up and kicked the corpse in the chest and sent it crashing to the ground, the back of its head cracking loudly against a stone and making it go still while giving him an opening to keep running. He reached the top of the hill and found himself facing a long fence with vines growing along the top.

Another undead was there waiting, it lunged for Chris only to receive a shotgun stock to the head that knocked it down. The fighter raising the weapon again and bringing it down harder with a sickening crunch on the creature's head.

With no other way of escape, the moans and shuffling feet of the undead behind him getting closer, Chris realized that his options were low and decided to take his chances on what could have been waiting on the other side.

Swinging the empty shotgun like a bat and knocking another corpse that came up the hill after him back and causing it to topple over three others that were behind it, he ran for the fence. Tossing the useless weapon aside and leapt up, grabbing the top of the fence and throwing himself over onto the other side.

He landed with a grunt in the backyard of a two-story house and rolled away from the heavy wooden barrier just as the sounds of pounding hands could be heard on the side from multiple sources. Through the cracks between boards, Chris could make out the decaying faces that had been chasing him as they attempted to find a way through to get at him with more gathering by the second.

Just as the fence started creaking from all the abuse, several gunshots rang out in the distance catching the attention of all who could hear them. The corpses stopped their assault on the fence and looked off toward where the shots had come from before they began shuffling in the direction the shots had come from.

Chris watched from his position on the ground as the horde dissipated before getting back to his feet. _"Okay, lets assess the situation."_ he thought running his hand through his dirty blonde hair while his heart rate slowly started going back to a normal level while keeping his eyes locked on the fence. _"I somehow got knocked out and woke up somewhere near Atlanta during a zombie outbreak that I don't remember happening at all. This is obviously_ not _a dream...so what the FUCK is going on?!"_

He racked his brain, thinking back to everything that had happened before he woke up in this place. Getting home after hanging out at his friend's place, seeing his Xbox on and reading about the malfunction...then there was a lot of pain and an explosion of light before everything went black.

 _"Could that have been the reason? It doesn't seem likely. A game system fries when it's overloaded, it doesn't explode and catapult people into zombie-hell."_ Chris blew out a slow breath before looking at his surroundings.

The backyard he had fallen into looked to be apart of a suburban area, a covered pool was on his immediate right, a tree with a well-built treehouse on his left, and there was a couple of soccer balls and a red wagon scattered along the grass.

Turning to face the house itself, he saw all the windows dark and nothing seemed to be moving for the most part. _"Alright Lachance, pull yourself together and freak out about everything later. Surivial first and foremost. Gotta find shelter and a weapon, those walkers will come back eventually and you need to be ready if you get cornered."_ Steeling himself as best he could, Chris moved across the yard and stepped onto the back porch, approaching the glass sliding door and peering into the dark interior.

He could make out a couple of things; a small bar with stools separated the dining area from the kitchen, the living room was in clear view with the tv on showing nothing but static. All of the windows had the curtains drawn making it hard to see anything else that could have been inside.

"Hello?" he called out knocking on the thick glass. "Anyone home?" No response came after a couple of seconds. Taking a deep breath, Chris reached out and tried the handle and pulled it open with ease meaning it wasn't locked.

The fighter slowly stepped through the opening, body tense like a spring ready to snap in the off chance something jumped out at him. "I'm coming in, not here to cause trouble, just looking for help." he said into the seemingly empty house. Closing the door behind him, he got a better look around the home's interior seeing overturned furniture and various things thrown all over the place. The kitchen floor close to the bar had a large pool of blood with even more streaked along the wall.

 _"Christ."_ he thought with a slight shiver at the fate these people probably suffered from. The blood looked dry, meaning whatever had happened had been a while ago.

Going farther inside, he decided to check the kitchen first. Stepping past the bar where a child's coloring book and crayons were scattered on the surface which made a feeling of dread fill his stomach, he approached the pool of blood finding an array of foot and handprints along the tiled floor like the victim attempted to crawl away.

"Fuck," the fighter muttered as he skirted around it and entered the kitchen. All of the cabinets and drawers were pulled open, some of their contents spilled across the floor. He managed to find a butcher knife sticking out of the cutlery block on the counter, checking to see how sharp it was and being satisfied he slipped it through his belt at the small of his back before going through the drawers that hadn't been pulled open.

The place was almost completely ransacked, any food or other useful items had already been taken long ago. Sighing in frustration, Chris pulled open the last drawer and found a walkie-talkie at the bottom.

Taking it out, he gave it a once over before switching it on, a small thrill going through him when it came on. "Now we might be getting somewhere." he said to himself while slipping the device on to his left hip. With nothing else to go over he made his way toward the living room just in time for a loud beep to echo through the first level of the house.

Turning to his immediate right, he saw a bright-red blinking light on the answering machine along with a number three displayed on the small screen by the play button. "Maybe this will give me a clue about something." he pressed the play button and started listening;

 **"Three new messages. Message one. Left at 5:43pm:"**

 _ **"Hey Sandra, this is Diana. We're still in Savannah. Ed had a little 'incident' with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we had to get him back to the ER and have it checked out. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive back tonight, so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine, and I promise we'll be back in time before your spring break!"**_

Chris clenched his right hand a bit as the second message started playing.

 **"Message two. Left at 11:19pm:"**

 _ **"Oh my God, finally! I don't know if you've tried to reach us; all the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please, please, just leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Marietta. I've got to get back to the hospital. Please, let me know that you're safe."**_

The feeling in the pit of his stomach got a little heavier, hearing the desperation in the woman's voice shook him to the core and made him realize the severity of the situation. He waited as the last message began playing;

 **"Message three. Left at 6:51am:"**

 _ **"Clementine? Baby, if you can hear this, call the police. That's 9-1-1. We love you...we love you...we love y-"**_

It was cut off mid-way, but it was painstakingly clear about the fate of the people on the other end.

Chris found a picture in a frame beside the answering machine and picked it up. A smiling family with a dad, mom and a little girl looked back at him and pulled at his heart-strings. What was happening? How was it happening? He just couldn't stop asking himself these questions, praying for some kind of answer that would help in any way...but none came. And probably never would.

Setting the picture back down, he turned toward the sliding door he had come through before-

 **"Daddy?"**

The fighter almost jumped as he shot his gaze down to the walkie-talkie down on his hip where a voice had come from, a little girl's voice.

He pulled the device from his belt and held it in front of him a moment before pressing the button on the side. "Hello?" he asked slowly.

 **"You need to be quiet."** came the reply. He started looking around the home in search of where the person on the other end was hiding.

"It's okay, I'm not one of those things. And I mean no harm." he said back as he looked through the living room and finding nothing.

 **"Good."** said the child as he moved to the dining room.

"What's your name? Do you live nearby?" he asked still not finding her anywhere.

 **"I'm Clementine. And this is my house."** Chris let out a sigh of relief that the girl he had seen in the photo was okay.

"Hi, Clementine. I'm Chris." the fighter said keeping up the search. "How old are you, sweetheart?" he asked, keeping her talking to prove that he didn't mean her no harm.

 **"Eight."**

"Are you alone?"

 **"Yes. I don't know where anybody is."** she said in distress. She took a deep breath before speaking again, **"How old are you?"**

He smiled before answering, "I turned 25 not too long ago."

 **"Okay."**

The fighter looked out the window above the sink at the backyard, still finding no sign of the girl anywhere "Clementine, are you safe where you are?" he asked while his eyes scanned every inch of the yard outside.

 **"Yes. I'm outside in my treehouse. They can't get in."** Chris smiled, _"Smart kid."_ He thought as he saw the door on the outside of the treehouse open and a small, tan-skinned girl wearing a dirty sundress and a baseball cap covering long, curly hair poked her head out and looked his way.

 **"Can you see me? I can see you through the window."** she said holding another walkie to her mouth.

Chris waved at her, "I can see you just fine, sweetheart. Stay put and I'll come out to meet you in person, okay?." He could just barely see the girl smile...but it quickly vanished as she backed away from the opening.

 **"Behind you!"**

He barely had a moment to spin around before what had been lurking behind him grabbed his shoulders. The rotten, decaying face of a female walker lunged for him, blackened teeth snapping as it tried to latch on to his throat.

"Shit!" Chris grabbed the creature by the neck, pushing back to keep it from taking a chunk out of him as it tried to pull him to it's waiting mouth. The rancid smell of rot washing over him and making his eyes water while he fought back against it.

For a walking corpse in the process of decomposing, it had a surprising amount of strength.

Managing to keep the walker at arm's length, he brought his right hand back and punched it hard with a resounding crack. The walker's lower jaw hung unhinged, head snapping to the side from the blow and losing its grip just enough for him to bring his elbow down hard on the monsters forearm, shattering the bones in it and allowing him to shove it away from him.

Shaking off the feeling of disgust, the fighter reached back and drew the large knife he picked up earlier and held it before him while standing in at ready position. "Alright you undead bitch, come and get it." he growled as the walker got back up.

A animalistic growl came from the walker's throat, arm hanging limply at it's side, before it lunged at him. Chris dodged right, bringing his knee up hard into the walker's chest and staggering it before bringing his clenched fist down on the back of it's head sending it sprawling to the floor.

Pressing his foot down on it's back, keeping it pinned to the floor, he crouched down and drove the blade into the base of the walker's skull, making it go still.

Releasing the knife and shaking the blood from his hands, Chris stood back at his full height looking down at the corpse. The realization that he had killed three of these things within the last twenty or so minutes weighed on him a bit, but at this point he couldn't afford to hesitate.

One bite from one of these things and it would be game over in a matter of hours.

He still couldn't understand how any of this was possible, and until he figured it all out he'd have to rely on his knowledge on how to deal with the living dead and his training in the MMA to keep from becoming a statistic.

A soft gasp pulled him back into the here and now. Turning his head, he saw the little girl he had been talking to standing at the opening to the kitchen, a hammer clutched tightly in her hands as she looked down at the dead walker at his feet.

Her hazel colored eyes looked up and locked with his blue ones. "D-Did you kill it?" she asked, stepping out of the way as the pool of blood began tp spread in her direction.

"Pretty sure something got to her before I did. But yeah, I got it." he replied before approaching her, kneeling down to her height and taking the hammer from her gently while giving her a smile. "Are you Clementine?"

She nodded, "And you're Chris, right?"

"I am." he said nodding in return. "Have you really been all on your own through all of this?" he asked more than a little worried for her state of mind.

Clementine nodded again, "Uh huh...I want my parents to come home now." she said holding her hands together and looking to the floor. Missing the wince on Chris' face as he remembered the messages on the answering machine.

"That...could be a while, sweetheart." he said solumnly. Not wanting to crush her with the idea her parents could either be dead or undead.

Her expression seemed to become more depressing from his words. "...oh."

The fighter's heart went out to her, she had been all alone thus far, who knew how much longer she would have lasted if he hadn't come along.

A thought crossed his mind at that point, it was crazy given his own situation, but he couldn't leave her to fend for herself. Someone her age and size wouldn't last very long against walkers, and deep in his heart he couldn't leave a little girl alone like this.

"Look, I don't really know what's happening or how it all started. But how about I look after you for a while, at least until we find your folks." he asked making the girl perk up a little.

"Really?" she asked a little hopeful.

"Of course," Chris said smiling, "I can't just leave you alone, it's not safe with these things wandering all over the place."

Clementine looked down at the dead walker again before going back to him, "What should we do?"

The fighter looked out the open sliding-door she had come through and saw the sun start to set, "We need to find help and a safe place to be before it gets dark. These things will be more dangerous at night." he picked up the walkie he had dropped in the struggle with the walker before, slipping the hammer into his belt and stepping out into the dining area, Clementine at his side as they prepared to head out back into the yard.

"Hold on," he said before turning and heading toward the living room. The young girl watched him pick up the framed picture of her family and tamper with it a moment before pulling the image from the frame itself and coming back over. Holding the picture out for her to take. "Something you should hold onto, until we find them." he said smiling down at her.

The girl smiled back as she accepted the photo, folding it in half and slipping it into a pocket of her dress before reaching out and taking his hand in hers.

They stepped out on to the back porch, closing the door behind them before making their way to a gate that led to the driveway.

Chris saw the road beyond cluttered with abandoned cars. And among them were two men attempting to push a green sedan with its front end smashed in out of the way. "Maaaan...I ain't never gettin' home to mama at this rate." one of them groaned as they took a break.

"This sucks." said the other scratching back of his head.

Chris reached to open the gate when Clementine backed off a little. "Hey, what's the matter?" he asked crouching down to look her in the eye.

"Shouldn't I stay here?" she asked timidly. "I don't want to sleep in my treehouse tonight, but I don't know if I should leave. What if my parents come home?"

The fighter reached out and tipped her hat up, making her look him in the eye, "It's not safe, I don't think your parents would want you to be somewhere by yourself through all of this" he smiled at her, "I won't leave you alone." he promised. Clementine's face lit up and she nodded.

Turning back to the gate, they pushed it open and approached the two men as they went back to trying to push the car. "Stay close to me, no matter what happens, okay?" Chris whispered down at his charge while at the same time keeping her behind him a bit. "Hey, you two!" he called out making them jump.

"Holy shit!" the heavier looking one shouted, holding his hands up in defense. "Don't eat us!"

"Relax," Chris said holding his own hands up, "We're not trying to hurt anybody. Just looking for a bit of help."

Both of the men visibly relaxed, "Phew, thought for a second there you and the little one were both gonna give us the chomp." said the dark haired one. "Name's Shawn by the way, Shawn Greene. And this is Chet." he introduced.

Chet smiled and waved at Clementine who smiled back shyly and hid behind Chris' leg.

"Chris Lachance, and this is Clementine." the fighter replied. "Either of you know what the hell's going on around here?" he asked looking up the street and seeing it cluttered with cars, discarded luggage and a couple of downed walkers.

"No idea, you've seen them right? They just came out of nowhere not to long ago, before anyone knew what was happening folks started eating each other." Shawn said looking around, "We shouldn't be out in the open like this. How about you help us clear the way and we'll take you and your daughter out of here and down to my family's farm. It should be safe there."

Chris was a little thrown off by the accusation, "I'm not her dad. I'm...a friend of the family. Came for visit and found everything like this." he said after a second or two.

Clementine sent him a look out of the corner of her eye while Shawn nodded, "Bad time, but I guess it can't be helped concidering all of this." He shot a glance farther up the street, "We better get going, staying put for too long is a mistake."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Chris said looking down at his charge. She looked back unsure, casting a glance toward the front of her family's home before Chet started shouting.

"Them monsters are comin'! WE GOTTA GO!" A small group of walkers started stumbling in their direction around the derelict cars. Shawn and Chris shared a glance before throwing their weight into the car they had been trying to move before.

The sedan creaked as it started rolling back inch by inch. The fighter bent his knees and pushed with every ounce of strength that he possessed while the undead began to close the distance between them.

Clementine ran up and started pushing as well, the combined effort moving the dead car out of the way and allowing safe passage for the old red truck that had been stopped next to it. "Com'mon! We gotta go!" Shawn shouted as he yanked open the driver's side door.

Chet threw himself into the empty bed while Chris got Clementine into the passenger's seat. She screamed as one of the walkers, this one wearing a torn and bloody police uniform reached out to grab the fighter from behind.

But he had been quicker, grabbing the creature by the back of the head and smashing it off the side of the truck hard enough to cave its forehead in and dropping it to the ground.

Noticing the dead man's gunbelt and his sidearm still holstered in it, he quickly bent down and pulled the Glock 9mm out before jumping into the truck. Slamming the door as Shawn hit the gas, the trucks tires squealed on the pavement, bashing the side of the car they had moved as they sped off and safely got away from the horde.

Laying his head back against the seat behind him, Chris took a few deep breaths. Body sagging as he felt the adrenaline starting to wear off. Clementine was on her knees in the seat between him and Shawn looking out the back window the way they had come, seeing her house disappear as they drove farther and farther away.

"You know, for a random guy, you sure saved a lot of lives today." Shawn said turning off the suburban street and going down the main road toward the countryside.

Chris looked down at the pistol in his hand, popping the clip out and was grateful at finding it full. "Just lucky, I guess." he said back before snapping the magazine back in place and flipping the safety on before leaning his head back against the seat and closed his eyes

The whole situation was FUBAR right out of the gate, without knowing how he got into all of this or even if there was a way for him to get back he was pretty much fucked no matter how he looked at it. And it wasn't like many people would miss him.

Being estranged from his family, a very small number of friends and naturally being a loner made it pretty clear on that fact.

 _"Way I see it, I have two options at this point."_ he thought to himself. _"I can either make due of the situation, survive to the best of my ability and figure out how all this happened. Or, I can just sit around and get eaten and rot like everything else around here."_

He felt Clementine sit down next to him, her head leaning against his shoulder as she got comfortable in the seat. It was then he realized that it wasn't just about him anymore, he made a promise to her and he'd be damned if he didn't do everything he could to keep her safe from the walkers and anything else that would want to hurt her.

 _"I can't let her down, it's not just about_ my _survival anymore."_ Mind made up, Chris looked out the window at the passing landscape. The sun dropping lower and lower in the sky, nightfall just about upon them. But at the moment they were safe.

But in a world like this...how long would that last?"

 ** _A/N: As previously stated, not a whole lot of changes yet. But overtime, I intend on pulling off a few tricks I got up my sleeve later on._**

 ** _For those that are probably pissed at the idea of me 'ripping this off', DFX was and always will be a good friend. Because of him I got into Fanfiction and made the awesome stories that my readers love. This is my way of keeping my mentor in mind, and thanking him for all he's done for me._**

 ** _If you love this, leave your reviews and I'll have the next chapter ready by the end of the weekend. Till next time folks!_**


	2. The Reality of Things

_**A/N: Thanks for all the feedback thus far, and thanks also for the support for the recent adoption of this awesome story. I full intend on making it something DFX would be proud of. In fact, he just finished sending me the other chapters last night after he saw that I had posted the fic back where it rightfully belongs.**_

 _ **There have been a few questions floating around about whether or not I'll take similar decisions involving my OC compared to the original. I will say here and now that I won't be going with the OC/Carley pairing, there are too many of those already floating around. I haven't yet figured out who to pair my OC with yet, so I'm just playing it by ear for the time being. So for now, everyone keep enjoying the ride.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead**_

Night had fallen, the bright light of the full moon in the sky shining down upon the landscape casting long shadows along the ground.

A pair of headlights drove steadily down a long, bumpy dirt road. Going past various corn fields, fenced in animal enclosures and various trees. Inside the truck, the occupants were all in a strange combination of relaxation and alertness as they rumbled farther into the rural landscape. The incidents that had occurred to them over an hour or more ago still very fresh in their thoughts as they focused on the road ahead.

Chris had his chin resting on knuckles of his right hand, elbow on the passenger door as he watched the countryside fly past them. Clementine was on his left with Shawn driving on her other side, Shawn's friend Chet leaning his back against the cab from his spot in the truck's bed behind them.

It was late, roughly around 11 or maybe closer to midnight, the fighter could feel sleep clawing at the edges of his consciousness, but refused to let it take hold.

There would be time for sleep when he and Clementine were somewhere safe, and if what Shawn had been telling them is true, a farm out in the middle of nowhere seemed like the best place to be when the more populated areas are overrun by walkers.

Though he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia coming to him the farther along they went. Something about Shawn's last name triggered something that he was having a bit of trouble trying to recall. _"Greene...Greene...Where have I heard that name before?"_ he thought to himself.

"Chris?" he turned and looked down at his charge who was rubbing her eyes before looking up at him. "I'm getting sleepy. Are we there yet?" she asked before yawning.

"Almost, little darlin'." Shawn said as he turned the truck down another dirt road. "The farm isn't too much farther, we can find you two a place to crash when we arrive."

"Thanks for doing this for us, we really owe you." Chris said gratefully. "You sure your family won't mind having us?"

The farmer waved him off, "It won't be a problem, my dad might be a bit hesitant with strangers but I'm sure he won't mind letting you stay for at least one night." he made another turn and a small house in the distance could be seen approaching. "Besides, I couldn't just leave you two there like that. Not with those things wandering around takin' chunks outta people."

Pulling into a dooryard, Shawn parked the truck next to a blue one that was already sitting there before shutting the engine off. The group piled out and approached the front porch of the comfortable two-story home. "Hey, Shawn..." Chet said stretching his arms, "I'm a' run on home. My mama's gonna be in a snit."

"No sweat, man. I'll catch you tomorrow night." replied Shawn.

Chet nodded before turning to Chris and Clementine, "It was nice to meet ya both."

"Likewise, take care of yourself out there." the fighter replied as the man headed down the driveway and disappeared from sight. The front door of the house opened drawing their attention as two female figures came out to see them.

Chris' eyes widened and felt his breath hitch, _that_ was why Shawn's last name sounded familiar and why he felt that he'd known this place somehow.

The unmistakable forms of Maggie and Beth Greene came running down from the porch, their arms going around the older man in a tight embrace. Both girls looking exactly like the characters that played them on the Walking Dead right down to the last detail.

"Thank God, you're okay!" Maggie said with relief filling her voice as she held the man.

"I'm fine, sis." Shawn said hugging his sisters back. "I was worried it'd be bad here, too."

"Everything's okay here, daddy was worried about you." said Beth before turning to the ones Shawn had brought with him. "Who are these two?" she asked looking from the young man to the little girl that hung closely to his side.

"This is Chris and Clementine, they helped me and Chet get back here when we got held up in town." said Shawn turning to their guests. "These are my sisters, Maggie and Beth."

Snapping himself out of the slight stupor he had fallen in, the fighter nodded to them. "Your brother's a hero, we would have been in a lot of trouble if he and his friend hadn't helped us out when we needed it."

"Well, it's a good thing they were able to help somebody." they all looked to the front door and Chris felt his mouth drop again. Even missing his long beard and prosthetic leg, the kind and serene visage of Hershel Greene was still very surprising to see.

The older man smiled kindly at them as he came down the steps. "So, it's just you and your daughter then." he said looking down at Clementine who smiled back shyly.

"Oh, she's not his daughter." said Shawn before Jason could answer. "He's a friend visiting and found her alone at home."

Hershel cast a small glance at his son before turning to the younger man with a calculating look. Chris felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up under the man's gaze, but kept his face as calm and collective as he could before the man turned to Clementine and kneeled down to her level.

"Honey, do you know this man?" he asked gently.

The girl hesitated a moment before nodding her head, "Yes."

Hershel narrowed his eyes then nodded back, "Okay then. You two look like you've had a pretty bad day. Beth, would you mind fetching them something to drink. Shawn, Maggie, why don't you go in and check on your mother." His children all headed into the house, the girls sending smiles toward the girl and her guardian before they disappeared inside.

The farmer motioned for his guests to have a seat on a couple of hay-bails in front of the porch, they all sat down as the man started speaking again. "Seems like things got awful bad in the cities." he turned to Chris, "What's your name, son?"

"Chris Lachance." the fighter replied.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Hershel Greene." said the farmer. "Shawn said something about you coming to visit. Where you from?"

It didn't take much to figure out that the man was digging, searching for lies that could paint him in a bad light. _"Just keep it honest. But don't mention anything about somehow jumping dimensions."_ "I live in Atlanta, was on my way to visit some friends on the other side of the city. Didn't expect things to fall apart like this." he said dodging around the truth easily.

"I came across Clementine's home running from those things you've probably heard about. After that we ran into your son and his friend before making an escape." the fighter continued. The older man nodded, seeming to buy the story for the most part. But there was still a sliver of mistrust in his eyes that kept Chris on edge.

Beth came out of the house with two bottles of water, handing them to their guests and given them a smile before heading back inside. "The house is full up with mine. We've got another displaced family of three already sleeping in the barn. You and the girl are welcome to rest there for the night." Hershel turned to Clementine. "I didn't catch your name either, darlin'."

"Clem-Clementine." she answered back.

The farmer shook his head sadly, "Can't imagine what you've been through, Clementine."

"I'm looking after her until we find her parents." Chris said honestly just as Shawn came out of the house and approached his father.

"Hey, dad, I've been thinking. First thing tomorrow, we gotta reinforce the fence around the farm."

Hershel shook his head, "That doesn't seem necessary."

Shawn gritted his teeth, "I don't know what you saw on tv, or heard on the radio, but there's some serious..." he lowered his voice looking over at Clementine as she slowly drank the water in her hands. "...shit hitting the fan. I don't think anyone knows how big it is yet."

"He's right, sir." Chris said after taking a big gulp of his own water. "Things are a lot worse out there than you may realize, dead people are wandering around eating the living. Making sure this place is safe for you and your family should take priority."

The farmer didn't look to be moved as he regarded the two younger men, "Stuff like that doesn't happen around here. But do what you think you should, Shawn. We've got plenty of other chores around here as it is."

"Chris and those folks in the barn can help out in the morning. We gotta do it, really." the man's son pressed.

"I already said yes. You don't need to try and convince me any more." Hershel said as Shawn turned and went back in the house. He regarded Chris and motioned to the building a little ways from the home, "There's blankets and such in the barn. We'll be seeing you bright and early. Come tomorrow, which way you think you're headed?"

Chris hadn't thought about their next step, surviving the walkers had taken up most of his thoughts so much he didn't stop to think about where he and Clementine should go next. Then he remembered the conversation he had with the girl back at her house. "Savannah, Clementine's folks were down in that area when things started falling apart. I promised to help her look for them."

"Then your best bet would be to pass through Macon." replied the farmer. "The coast is still a long drive from here, maybe those other folks we took in can offer you a lift in that direction tomorrow." he gave the two another smile, patting the younger man on the shoulder before going into the house leaving the two to their own devices.

Watching the man disappear inside, the fighter turned to his charge who looked back unsure. "Well...I think the sandman is calling our name, Clem." he said with a light smile and getting a giggle out of her. They got up and walked across the large front yard toward the barn.

The Greene family farm looked almost exactly like it did in the show, only it seemed to be a little smaller than he remembered. More often then not, Chris couldn't help but think of the large herd of walkers surrounding the place from the treeline while people fought to escape.

 _"Not the time to think about that."_ he thought to himself just as they reached the barn after a light walk, the odd duo pushed the large doors open before going inside and sealing the entrance behind them.

Gathering a couple of blankets and pillows that were stacked up in the corner, they found a small corner amongst a pile of hay-bails and set up their makeshift beds on the floor before settling down for the night. The sounds of someone rolling around in the upper loft telling them both that the other family that had taken up residence in the building for the night was up there already asleep.

Chris laid on his blanket, pulling out the walkie-talkie, the hammer and the handgun he got off of the dead cop when they fled Clementine's house under his pillow for easy access before folding his arms under his head and staring up at the ceiling above. His mind already starting to go over how they would be able to reach Savannah, or any kind of safe haven where nothing would happen to him or the girl that was now in his care.

 _"We're going to need food, medical supplies, and weapons. A hammer and a gun with a single clip won't last us long. We're also going to need a vehicle and some gas to get us there, not to mention a way to keep the walkers from taking a bite out of us.."_ he rubbed his temples when he started feeling a headache coming on. _"I'll worry about this in the morning, should get as much sleep as I can. Gonna need it tomorrow."_

Clementine smelled around her as she tried to get comfortable, "It smells like..." she trailed off not knowing how to word it.

"Manure." Chris said rolling over to face her.

"You mean, when an animal...plops?" she asked hesitantly and getting a nod from her guardian making her shiver slightly. They fell into silence for a few minutes before Clementine reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded picture of her family, laying it next to her pillow as she curled up by it. "I miss my mom and dad." she whimpered softly.

Chris winced, the messages he heard on the answering machine coming back to mind. "I know, sweetheart." he said feeling his heart clench at her anguish.

"How far is Savannah?" she asked as her eyes began to grow heavy.

The fighter yawned, "Pretty far, Clem. But we'll get there, don't worry."

Clementine's eyes closed completely as she settled in, "Oh...okay..." A moment later her breathing evened out meaning she had fallen asleep. Chris watched over her for a few more moments before rolling on to his back again, exhaustion starting to settle in with him as well as he closed his own eyes.

His last waking thought being of what their overall plan should be before the hands of sleep claimed him for the night.

X

 _"So that's how it is then?"_

 _"Christopher, we only want what's best for you and your career."_

 _"Bullshit! All you two care about it controlling our future! I remember Jack wanted to be a writer, but you two stomped down on that dream the moment he uttered a word of it!"_

 _"You need to take your future seriously, son. If you don't you won't get anywhere in life."_

 _"I am getting somewhere!"_

 _"This stupid dream of becoming a fighter is just that, a dream! If you don't buckle down and choose a worthwhile profession then you won't be getting any more support from us!"_

 _"...So you're cutting me off? Just because my life's not the way you want it for me? Being in the MMA may seem like a dream, but it something I'm working hard for! And being a mechanic_ is _a good profession, do you have any idea how much people with auto skills get paid for their work? Even freelance mechanics earn more than others."_

 _"Chris-"_

 _"No mom! This isn't about me, my future or any of that, is it? This is about_ your image _and how_ I _am making it look bad! How embarrassing it must be for the two of you to have a_ grease-monkey with bloody knuckles _in the family instead of another doctor."_

 _"Son, our word is final on the matter."_

 _"Fuck your word! Fuck your support! And fuck YOU! If that's the way it's gonna be with you two, then I'll start packing my shit. I'm done being shoved in a box I can't fit into. I'm done with the snide comments, the glares I get when I visit home and the way you let people talk about me when you think I'm not listening!"_

 _"Parents are suppose to support their kids and love them no matter what they do with their lives, not give them ultimatums and threaten them just because they don't fit into the family's_ grand plan _. I can stand on my own two goddamn feet...I've been doing it for a long while now so what the hell does it matter?"_

 _"If that's the way you want it, then consider yourself on your own Chris. You are no longer any son of mine!"_

X

Chris bolted awake, looking around him and seeing the four walls of the barn and the piles of hay stacked around him.

He'd been reliving that moment from years ago for a while now, the moment when his dad all but disowned him and his mother just walked away with her head hanging low. Neither of them looking back as they walked out of his life without another word.

It had been a stupid situation anyway. Just because he pursued a profession and a way of life that they didn't agree with didn't give them the right to threaten to no longer support him and kick him out of the family.

He'd tried to be the adult in the situation, trying to see if from their point of view and make compromises. But nothing worked with them. They just hated the fact that he didn't have a job that fit well with their view of things as long as they looked better in the community.

So he stuck through it, they didn't want him? Fine. He had been doing good on his own for years without anything from them and was doing well.

His eyes searched the barn again realizing that everything he had been through the day before had been real before letting out a sigh knowing that nothing was going to change that. A light shuffling came from his left and he saw Clementine curled up on her makeshift bed, her hat half-hanging off her head and her expression peaceful while she slept.

Smiling at the image, he reached out and removed her hat, setting it to the side within her reach before standing up and stretching his muscles. Skin a bit itchy from laying in hay, the fighter walked slowly over to the doors to the barn being as silent as possible so he didn't wake anyone else as he stepped out into the crisp, early morning air.

It was still relatively dark out, but the hues of pink, blue and purple on the edges of the horizon marked the start of the new day.

Taking another deep breath, Chris started walking around the yard along the fence that separated the space surrounding the home from the surrounding fields.

He could hear the sounds of animals waking up all around the property, a horse in the nearby stable grunted and stomped their hooves as the fighter walked past them. Stopping by one of the many fence posts and leaning on it while he looked out over the landscape.

After living in a city for so long, he almost forgot how quiet and serene the countryside was. _"Everything's so peaceful out here."_ he thought while hearing various other animals waking up for the day. _"Hard to believe the world's coming to an end outside the boarders. Hopefully not everything turns out like in the series."_

Footfalls in the grass behind him broke his thoughts and made his body tense, preparing for an attack until he heard a feminine voice speak out, "You're up pretty early."

Looking over his shoulder he saw Maggie Greene standing behind him dressed in a casual white tank-top and jeans with light tears in them that hugged her body close. A pair of brown cowboy boots completed her attire and painted the perfect image of a 'farmer's daughter'.

"Y-Yeah. Rough dreams." he admitted albeit a little tongue-tied given the beautiful southern-belle standing before him.

Maggie slipped her hands into her pockets and walked up to stand next to him. "Shawn told us what was going on out there, it sounds horrible."

Chris nodded seriously before glancing out over the farm. "It is. The last thing you expect to see is people eating each other, it's nightmare stuff, and I don't think things will be getting any better soon." he said while running a hand through his short-cut hair. "It's a good thing it hasn't reached this far, your family is lucky."

"Maybe," she said looking out over everything as well. "Daddy says that we have nothing to worry about, that what's happening out there won't reach us. But Shawn thinks that it's best to prepare for the worst."

"It's a good idea," said the fighter. "It's always better to prepare for the worst, than hope for the best. Even if nothing happens here, at least you'll be ready incase something goes wrong."

The young woman nodded before casting a smile in his direction, "Clementine looks like such a sweet little girl, it's terrible how she's all alone now. It's a good thing you found her when you did, anything could have happened to her."

"I made a promise after I found her, I honor my word. And no matter what it takes, I'll make sure nothing happens to her." came the reply, conviction filling the traveler's voice at the commitment he made to his young charge. A hand on his shoulder made him look up to see Maggie's bright green eyes and smiling face.

"She's lucky to have you looking out for her. I can tell that you're a good man and will honor what you say." her voice was soft and made his heart skip a beat or two. She looked even prettier in person and Chris couldn't help but feel like he was back in high school talking to one of the popular girls.

"T-Thanks," he managed before clearing the dry lump in his throat and getting the woman to giggle. "What are you doing up at this hour?" he asked, a little curious as to what she was doing out here.

"Beth, mama and I are gonna head to our neighbors' for the day. I just came to check on the horses before we head out in a few hours." she approached the stables and ran her hand along the elongated face of a dark-brown steed that bowed its head so she could scratch it behind the ears.

Chris stepped toward the stable as well, reaching a hand out and running it along the animal's neck, hearing a deep grunt that sounded like it was enjoying the attention. "He looks like an amazing animal." he commented before jumping as the white furred horse in the stable next to it leaned out and nipped at the back of his shirt, causing Maggie to laugh at his expense.

"Definitely a city-boy." she teased getting a mock-glare in return that only made her laugh more. "So what do you do for a living?"

"I do work as an auto-mechanic, but in my spare time I train as a fighter for the MMA. The sport's always interested me since I was a kid, and I was just barely getting scoped out by sponsors when...well, all of this happened." he covered easily.

Maggie looked his way, "Sounds dangerous. Throwing yourself into a situation where you have to fight each other. But I guess farming is dangerous on its own."

Chris nodded, "You're right. But in life you have to take risks if you're passionate about something."

"That's true." the young woman replied before smiling at him. "Your family must be proud of you." The fighter remained silent, wanting to tell her the truth but deciding to keep it to himself.

They exchanged a few more words with one another, talking about seemingly random things and finding that they had a little bit in common and enjoying themselves rather well before going their separate ways, Maggie back to the house and Chris back to the barn.

The sun was beginning to rise a little higher in the sky but still relatively early and the fighter wanted to catch a little more sleep before the day really got started.

Still feeling a little light in his steps from his talk with the farmer girl, he walked into the barn and found Clementine still asleep where he had left her. Laying himself back down on his makeshift bed and settling in, Chris' eyes slid closed and took a couple deep breaths before drifting back into slumber.

X

"Hey, get up!" His eyes shot open about an hour or so later and found a man dressed in a white fishing shirt, baseball cap and jeans with a mustache that curved around his mouth looking down at him.

Chris' first reaction was to reach for the handgun under his pillow, but the kind smile on the man's face told him that he wasn't a threat and quickly relaxed before something could happen.

He looked to the side and found Clementine already awake, scratching at her arms with a look of discomfort. "I'm itchy." she complained.

"Well you slept in a barn, little lady." said the man jovally. "Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair."

The girl yelped and reached her hands up into her dark curls in fear of finding eight-legged bugs waiting for her. "Relax, Clem. I think he was just pulling your leg." Chris said getting to his feet with a light chuckle.

"He's right, darlin'. Besides, I bet your daddy here scared 'em all away, huh?"

The fighter scratched the back of his head, "Uh, I'm not her dad. Name's Chris." he said holding his hand out.

The unknown man clasped his hand with his and shook, "Name's Kenny." he introduced back.

"Dad!" the three looked toward the open barn doors and saw a boy a year or two older then Clementine standing in the opening. "We're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" he exclaimed with excitement before running off toward the house.

Kenny chuckled, "Well, we better get going or we won't hear the end of it." they all headed out of the barn, Chris using the moment to quickly snatch up his hidden items and stashing them on himself before catching up to the other two and began making their way to the farm house as well.

"That's my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck, though." said Kenny while they walked.

"Duck?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow at the odd nickname, Clementine giggled as she walked at his side, her hand holding on to his.

"Yeah. Nothing bothers him. Like water off a duck's back, y'know?" explained the older man.

"Good trait to have, especially now with what's going on out there." said the fighter nodding.

Kenny nodded back, "No kidding. But frankly, I think it's because he's dumb as a bag of hammers."

"DAAAAAD!" Duck yelled from up ahead.

"But he makes up for it with enthusiasm." the man finished with another chuckle.

They neared the front porch of the Greene home and found Kenny's son talking with an older, blonde woman. Both looking up as they closed in. "The word is you were on your way to Macon." Kenny said turning to the odd duo.

"Yeah, hoping to find a way to Savannah. If you don't mind giving us a lift." said the fighter.

"Not at all. Personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads together if he has to." replied the older man.

The fighter grinned, "Oh, no worries on that front. Been training in Mixed Martial Arts for several years now, even won a couple of matches and started getting somewhere before everything fell apart."

"Cool!" Duck exclaimed with wide eyes, "Does that mean you know Kung Fu and stuff?!"

"Sort off," Chris said while smiling wider at the kid's enthusiasm. "MMA is kind of a mix of all sorts of fighting styles. Karate, Kickboxing, Mai Tai, Judo, that kind of thing." he explained while taking a boxing-stance and punched at the air. "The key is to find your strengths when you're up against someone and improving on them, all the while increasing your endurance, strength and dexterity. Me personally, I do a combination of Judo and Boxing. Leveling off strength and speed when fighting an opponent."

The boy was bouncing from foot to foot before turning to the woman, "Mom! Can I learn to fight too?"

"Easy, sweetie. I think you're still a bit young to be worrying about that right now." said his mother with a slight accent tinting her voice, her running a hand over his nearly buzzcut hair.

Kenny shook his head a moment before making introductions, "Honey, Duck, this is Chris and...uh, what's the girl's name?" he asked.

"Clementine." Chris said looking down at his charge who tried her best to hide herself behind him.

"Clementine, that's a very pretty name." said the woman smiling warmly. "My name it Katjaa , it's nice to meet you." The little girl smiled and said thank you just as Shawn came around the house and approached them.

"Well, we should get to work. We've all seen what those things can do out there so the faster we get this new fence up, the better." he said to the group.

"I wanna build a fence!" Duck shouted, wanting to be a part of helping.

Shawn grinned, "Yeah? Well I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break." The little boy seemed to vibrate with excitement before chasing after the farmer as he went off to improve the border around the property.

Katjaa turned to Chris and smiled, "I can keep an eye on your little girl here on the porch if you want." The fighter looked down at Clementine and nodded, getting her to smile and head over to the older woman and sit with her while he and Kenny went over to the blue truck with the hood up.

"Need any help with that, Kenny?" he asked as the older man began to look over the engine.

"Naw, I think I got it." he replied while picking up a wrench and attempting to remove one of the spark plugs, only to find that it was the wrong sized socket.

Chris leaned forward and took the wrench from the older man, quickly changing to the right socket and removing the damaged component with relative ease and switching it with a new one Kenny had nearby.

"That's pretty good. You a mechanic?" the older man asked a bit impressed.

"Worked in an auto body shop back in Atlanta, it helped pay the bills outside of matches and training." Chris replied before changing out another spark plug. "Spark plugs are an easy fix, but I think your timing belt is a little loose. This truck won't last long if it's not taken care of."

"I'll keep that in mind when we pass a town with a parts store." said Kenny before glancing up at him with a questionable look after another minute. "Do _you_ need any help with anything?" he asked with a hidden meaning.

The fighter paused and raised an eyebrow at him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, in taking care of that little girl. You know what you're doing? You got kids of your own?" Kenny clarified.

Chris shook his head and went back to the engine, "I'm only 25, my longest relationship was only a few months. So no, I don't have any kids. Always thought about having one in the future though, thought I could make a great dad some day." he thought about the other man's family and looked up at him. "You've got a good family, Ken."

"Thanks, been doin' the best I can at keeping them safe through all of this. Our plan was to head back on down to Lauderdale and let this mess get sorted out." Kenny explained. "Government will start handing out shots and the national guard will do its thing. On the odd chance things got too bad, we could hop on my boat, I guess."

 _"Not a big chance of any of that happening..."_ Chris thought bitterly in regards to the government and military. "You've got a boat?" he asked.

"I'm a commercial fisherman, catching mackerel, dolphin, whatever's biting and paying. Katjaa wouldn't be wild about it, but the boat's not that bad." said Kenny with a little pride in his voice.

Filing that little piece of information away for later, the fighter continued helping the fisherman repair the truck. Talking back and forth about what was going on and how it may have started.

Kenny talked about their first encounter with the walkers, how they came down from his sister-in-laws place and Duck getting grabbed at a gas station. But they had managed to escape, seeing a lot of dead along the way until they came to the farm.

Chris realized then that things were just as dire as he first believed, that the chances of finding a safe haven in all of this was going to be very difficult if he and Clementine didn't have a good plan to follow.

When the truck was fully repaired and running again, the fighter looked over at his little charge who was still on the porch where she was happily talking with Kenny's wife. _"They seem to be getting along alright."_ he thought while feeling glad that she was opening up to people.

"Hey girls," he said approaching the two. "Enjoying yourselves?"

"You can say that. Clementine was just telling me about first grade." replied Katjaa warmly.

"Really, and how is that?" asked Chris while turning to his charge.

Clementine smiled, "It's easy."

"I'll bet," he said ruffling her hair through her hat.

"Anyway, it's almost like we didn't see people eating each other for the past three days. It's peaceful here, no?" said Katjaa getting a nod from the fighter.

"Kenny told me about how rough it was out there for you three. How did you handle getting through the city?"

The woman sighed, "Kenny just...drove. We passed so many people that needed help. And...we just...passed them, over some. Just...just..." she closed her eyes not wanting to think about it anymore.

"It's okay, ma'am. You don't have to say anymore." the fighter said, trying to ease her troubled mind.

Katjaa shuttered, "I want to go home tomorrow, but even then I can't take away the things that Ken, Duck and I, went through." She looked up into his eyes, "Don't you want to go back to the moment before you knew about all of this?"

The question had stunned him for a moment, recalling how he had gotten into all of this and that there seemed to be nothing he could do to get back to where he was before. "Anyone with half a brain would. But in a situation like this, you just gotta take the hand you're dealt and make the best of it with what you have."

Katjaa smiled, "That sounded a bit philosophical."

Chris shrugged, "I'm no Plato, but I have my moments every once in a while." He drummed his fingers lightly on the bill of Clementine's hat and making her smile at him. "I'll leave you two be for now, better check on Shawn and those new defenses."

"Okay." the girl said before going back and talking with the blonde woman. He moved on from the porch and went around the house to the back where Shawn was busily hammering several heavy boards to the fence, making it stronger and more durable than before.

"Need an extra set of hands?" he asked the farmer after waving at Duck who was happily sitting on the tractor and playing with the steering wheel.

"Sure can," the farmer replied while motioning to a couple of saw-horses and some long wooden boards. "If you could cut those two-bys to length, that'd sure speed things up."

Chris walked over and set a couple of boards up, picking up a nearby hand-saw and started cutting them in half.

"My dad doesn't know how bad it really is out there." Shawn said after a minute of silence.

"Noticed that." said the fighter picking up a couple new boards after cutting the first two. "Most people hate to admit that something's wrong when its so hard to believe." Speaking from his own experience, he could definitely relate.

Shawn sighed and shook his head, "I saw a guy in Atlanta kill a kid. A boy. Just shot him right in the face. He didn't even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun between his eyes and pulled the trigger...You don't see things like that, it's not like in the movies."

Chris nodded, "At least then you know it's fake. But now, the horror of reality just doesn't set in right after seeing what we have." the next two boards fell away and he picked up a couple more.

"Have you...done it yet?" asked the farmer turning to him, "Have you had to off one?"

The fighter paused, eyes locked on the half-cut boards as he recalled his encounters with the walkers the other day. "Yeah. a couple of them. Three in the woods, one inside Clementine's house...and one outside your truck before we managed to get away."

"Damn," muttered Shawn. "That takes some guts. I could probably shoot one, if it was far away." he looked to the fence he was reinforcing. "I'm just glad we're getting this fence built-in. Dad just wants to keep the family safe and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever's out there."

"He's not wrong," said Chris, "No telling who you might let in. Though at the same time not everyone is bad. Just desperate."

"How bout you? Where's your family?" asked the Farmer.

The next to boards fell away and Chris sighed, "Wouldn't know, haven't heard from them in a couple of years. We had a pretty bad falling out and I've been on my own since."

"Sorry to hear that. Didn't mean to pry." Shawn replied and turned to him again. "That's probably all I need cut for now, thanks for the help."

"Don't mention it man, it's the least I can do for helping get me and Clem out of town last night." he replied setting the saw down.

Shawn smiled, "No problem, Chris. Couldn't leave you two behind. Anyway, when you see my dad around, he might want some help in the barn." the fighter looked over at said barn and found Hershel heading inside with a pitchfork. Rolling his shoulders, he walked across the wide yard and followed him in just as he started tossing hay into a corner pile.

The older man looked up at him, narrowing his gaze slightly before going back to work. "I was sort of hoping you'd come and talk with me, Chris. We didn't have a whole lot of time to talk last night after Shawn brought you in."

"About what, sir?" the fighter asked wondering what else they would need to talk about.

"About you, what were you doing before all of this? What about your family? Girlfriend? Parents? Siblings?" asked Hershel.

Chris leaned against one of the support posts for the loft and crossed his arms over his chest. "I worked in an auto body shop in Atlanta, fixing and detailing cars for a living while at the same time I was training to become a professional fighter." he ran a hand through his hair, "I haven't had a girlfriend in a little over a year. As for my family, well, we lost touch a while back. Irreconcilable differences that kind of tore us apart."

"That's sad to hear. Family's the only real important thing we got left in this world. It's a shame yours is as broken as it is." replied the farmer with a bit of sympathy. "But now you've got this little girl to take care of. Clementine, is it? You just stumbled up on her?"

The fighter nodded, "Yeah, was looking for help at her home and found her alone. Her babysitter was...no longer amongst the living. I couldn't just leave her like that." he said honestly.

Hershel hummed to himself before stabbing the pitchfork into the hay-pile and stepping forward. "Can I give you a piece of advice, son?"

"Sure." The younger man said giving his full attention.

"With things the way they are now, and how bad things may get later on, You're going to have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you're going to make it." the old farmer smiled, "But, at least you have the common sense to listen to an old man giving you advice."

Chris smiled back, "Your generation set the ground work for mine, not listening to words of wisdom like that would be a huge mistake on my part." they shared a laugh right before a loud, mechanical roar was heard followed quickly by a scream.

"What the fuck?!" the fighter ran out of the barn and ran straight for the house, Hershel right behind him.

"Go! I'll get my gun!" he called out, heading into the house while Chris ran around back and saw what all the trouble was.

Duck had somehow turned on the tractor, one of the front wheels having rolled over Shawn's leg and painfully crushing it down into the ground pinning him in place. At the same time, a walker had wandered up to the unfinished fence and was trying to reach through the gaps in the boards to grab him as he tried to pull himself free.

"SHAWN!" Chris sprinted toward the fence, reaching back and pulling the Glock from the waistband of his jeans and flicking the safety off as he brought it to bare.

 _Bam!_ The walker's head exploded in a shower of blood and bone as the 9mm round punched through its forehead and out the back. The body collapsing backwards.

Duck screamed, a second walker had come up, hands grabbing his tiny shoulders and was attempting to pull him over the fence.

He quickly reaimed and fired another shot that drilled right through the creature's temple and out the other side, allowing the boy to jump down from the tractor and run to his father who had come around the house with Katjaa and Clementine.

The wooden fence started creaking when a third walker appeared, leaning heavily on the wood but was quickly thrown back by a well placed round between the eyes. With the threat now gone, Chris put the gun in his back pocket before running over and started pushing against the tractor's front. Putting all his strength into it and moving the machine just enough for Shawn to free his leg and crawl out from under it to a safe distance.

Hershel came around the house and observed what had happened, beyond thankful that everyone was okay. "Shawn!" the farmer yelled running over to his son and kneeling next to him.

"I'm okay dad, " Shawn winced as he tried moving his right leg which was obviously broken with a few patches of blood soaking through his pants. "Ch-Chris saved my life, Duck's life too." The old farmer looked up at the fighter who stood facing him, nodding in thanks his way before tending to his son's injury.

Clementine was beaming, the whole thing had been scary, but her guardian had pulled through and managed to help everyone before anything bad could happen.

Then her eyes caught movement on the other side of the fence...right behind where Chris was standing! "CHRIS LOOK OUT!"

The fighter spun around just as the fence broke, a large walker going through the weakened boards easily. Rotting, cold hands grabbing his neck and bringing him to the ground as it struggled to get at any flesh within reach.

Chris strained his arms against the undead, barely making out the others shouting behind him as he kept the hungry walker at bay. The gun had been knocked from its place and was laying off to the right, too far away for him to reach and if he tried the creature would take a chunk out of him in a second.

The slight digging in his right hip reminded him of the hammer he had stored there and immediately came up with a plan. Grabbing the walker by the neck, he snapped his head forward and slammed it against the undead monster's hard enough to make it recoil, just long enough to pull the hammer from his belt and cram the shaft of it into the thing's mouth as it snapped back to try and bite him again.

Now with a better hold, both hands on the tool, he used the walker's own leverage against it and rolled them both over so that now he was on top of it. Pulling his arm back, he punched the creature with all his strength in the temple, its head snapping to the side, a couple of its teeth shattering on the hammer's shaft allowing him to free it from the thing's mouth.

With weapon in hand, he cocked it back and slammed the blunt end as hard as he could into the walker's head with a loud crunch. He repeated the action again, and again, and again. Each strike crushing bone and sending blood and rotting brain tissue splashing into the air. Small outcries of fury breaking from his lips with each successful hit while he kept swinging.

By the sixth hit the walker laid unmoving, its head now nothing more than a pulpy mass like a broken egg on a kitchen floor.

Chris breathed heavily, standing up slowly as he looked down at his latest kill. Blood splattered on his clothes, his arms, and dripping down from the hammer that was clenched tightly in his hand. Body shaking with tension as he tried to calm himself.

Letting the bloody tool slip from his hand and clatter softly to the grass, the fighter took a step back and sat on the ground, all the while keeping the walker in sight as the adrenaline wore off and his mind caught up with what had just happened.

Clementine broke away from the stunned group, running over to her guardian and wrapping her tiny arms around him in a tight embrace. Tears in her eyes seeing that he was okay and the monster was dead. The action alone was enough to break him out of his stupor as he hugged her back, doing what he could to sooth her from what she had to witness yet again.

No words were spoken from anyone. The tractor continuing to rumble in the background while it sat idle by the fence opening.

 ** _A/N: Ending in true Walking Dead fashion. Still relatively the same in comparison to the original script of the story, but a few real changes will be taking place in the next installment._**

 ** _The blending of the two timelines in the series is a bit taxing on the mind, but the ebb and flow seem to be accurate thus far._**

 ** _Keep your reviews coming, and the next chapter will be up and ready soon._**


	3. There Goes the Neighborhood

_**A/N: Surprise! I was intending on only updating once this weekend, but I figured there wouldn't be any harm in putting a second one out there for the fun of it.**_

 _ **A lot of people had pitched ideas about a possible pairing in the future, though the majority is that I put Chris with Maggie somewhere down the line, with a select few asking to out him with Molly. I still haven't come up with a definitive decision yet, but with so many of my readers making the right suggestions one will probably be made sooner than originally planned.**_

 _ **Another question that's come up is regarding Season 2 and New Frontier of the game series and if I'm blending it with the show's storyline. I can't confirm or deny whether I am or not, like AMC I don't want to spoil any surprises, so for now I'm keeping it close to the chest.**_

 _ **For now, here's the next episode for your enjoyment.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead.**_

Chris found himself in the familiar position of watching the world outside a passenger window fly past.

Sitting in Kenny's truck with the man himself behind the wheel driving them along the main road with Katjaa, Clementine and Duck all sitting in the back seat in silence.

They didn't stick around the farm very long after the walkers attacked. Shawn had a broken leg and a couple of deep cuts, but was alive and very thankful to the fighter for saving his life. He was being looked after by his father as they packed up what belongings they had, the older farmer coming out to see them off and shaking Chris' hand, thanking him from the bottom of his heart for what he had done and that he and Clementine were always welcome there.

Kenny and Katjaa had been in a similar state, since the younger man had also managed to save their son and was more than willing to offer him and his charge a lift anywhere they wanted to go.

It was a tough decision, staying on the farm or moving on to somewhere else. In the end, Chris decided that it would be best for him and Clementine to go with Kenny and his family.

As much as he wanted to stay with the Greenes, he couldn't base any ideals on what had happened during the series he had seen back home. The farm could be overrun sooner by walkers, or worse, raided by other survivors. He couldn't risk his charge's safety on guessing, and with the undead wandering around, movement equaled survival until there was a definite safe place for them.

He tried to tell the same thing to Hershel, saying that it would probably be better if they all left together since the walkers wondered onto the farm already. But the man wouldn't be moved, saying that he wouldn't leave his home and put his family at risk out on the road.

Chris knew it had been a lost cause at the start, but he still had to try. So after a couple of goodbyes and well wishes, they prepared to set out toward the coast. Until Maggie had pulled him aside before they could leave.

 _X Flashback X_

 _"Here, this is for you." the southern-belle said holding out her hand and placing something in the fighter's palm._

 _Curious, Chris looked down and saw a silver cross on a chain glinting back in the sunlight._

 _"Consider it a gift, for helping my family when we needed it most." Maggie explained._

 _"Thanks, Maggie. But you didn't have to go through the trouble." he said while running his thumb over the necklace gently._

 _The farmer girl just smiled, "I know that, that's why it's called a gift. Consider it something to remember us by, and for a little luck should something happen wherever you go."_

 _Smiling back, the fighter hooked the cross around his neck and tucked it under his shirt, "Hey, make sure you and your family are careful." he said seriously, "Things are a lot worse out there than either your dad or brother know."_

 _"We'll be alright." Maggie said back, "You and Clementine better take care of yourselves out there too." without warning she stepped forward and placed a kiss on Chris' cheek. His back going ramrod straight and his face burning red as she leaned back smiling widely at his reaction. "Good luck, handsome."_

 _With that said she turned and walked back toward the house, leaving the fighter frozen where he stood. Kenny calling out to him managed to break him from the trans before he headed over to the truck where everyone was waiting._

 _X Flashback End X_

Chris' face darkened a little as he thought back to that moment before leaving the Greene farm, fingering the cross around his neck beneath his shirt as he did so. They'd been on the road for most of the day, the sun had already started setting just as they saw a small town approaching in the distance.

"That's Macon, I remember us passing through here on our way up from home." said the fisherman as they drew closer.

"Hershel said something about this place, we can probably stock up on a few things as long as there aren't too many walkers wandering around." Chris replied turning to the windshield.

Kenny glanced his way, " 'Walkers?' " he asked confused.

"Calling them 'zombies' makes it sound too sureal, figured that they at least needed a name." said the fighter, taking the time to pull out his pistol and check it over. He only had 12 rounds left in the clip, he'd have to make them count if they ran into trouble. But he'd also have to avoid using it so they didn't attract more attention.

On his left, the older man looked down at the weapon and sighed before going back to driving. "Chris, thanks. For saving my boy back at Hershel's farm. If you hadn't of reacted like you did..." he trailed off not even wanting to think about it.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Hershel, Ken." said Chris looking his way, "You don't have to thank me, and you never will. In a world like this, folks need to band together to overcome what we're facing."

He looked back out his window as the outside began to darken even more. "These creatures...they don't feel exhaustion, they don't feel pain, and all they do is eat. They're like machines and spread like the disease that infects them. But despite the fact that they're really dangerous, they have one thing they can use against us that will lead to our downfall if we're not careful."

Kenny was now solely focused on him, Katjaa and the kids were as well, listening closely. "And what's that?" asked the fisherman.

Chris was now completely serious. "Fear. It cripples a person to their core if it takes hold of them, makes people act irrationally and they can turn on one another, some even go crazy from it. The walkers don't feel it, but we sure as hell do, and it could cost us everything if we don't learn to overcome it."

"But...how do you learn to not be afraid?" asked Clementine leaning over the back of his seat.

The fighter turned and smiled at her, "It's not about _not_ being afraid, sweetheart. It's about coping with it and overcoming it. We're all afraid of something, but we can learn to live with it and not let it bother us. The walkers are stupid, slow, and easy to dispatch despite how they may scare us. The only real advantage they have is their numbers."

"Sounds like you got this all figured out." Kenny said with a slight smirk getting a chuckle out of Chris.

"Spent a good portion of my younger life watching zombie movies, playing video games and reading books. Never thought I'd actually have to put what I learned from that to good use, but I'm not complaining about it now."

Katjaa leaned on Kenny's seat, "Do you have a plan on how to handle this? What you're next step should be?" she asked.

Chris leaned back against his own seat, arms crossing over his chest as he blew a slow breath out his nose. "Been thinking about that all day. Clem and I are planning on hitting up Savannah to find her parents, if there's one thing I've learned from all those stories is that movement is survival. Finding a haven that's easily defendable is a good idea, but staying in one place for too long will leave you vulnerable after a while. Then there's the issue with supplies; food, water, weapons, medical, anyone needs a good surplus of all that to survive."

"That, I can get behind." said Kenny liking the idea. "You can definitely count on our support for that, friend. If there really is strength in numbers, then we better stick it out together."

Nodding in agreement, the fighter looked back toward the road just as a sign reading **'Welcome to Macon'** went past them.

The truck rolled through the small town, shops and other small businesses lining the road with their windows either shattered or boarded up. Debris and abandoned cars littered the streets and sidewalks making it look completely barren.

There were visible bloodstains splattered on several surfaces, but so far no sign of any walkers from what they could see.

They drew closer to a four-way intersection just as the truck started making stuttering noises from the engine, the gas-gauge on the dash telling them that they were on empty as the vehicle rolled to a complete stop. "Well, this is as far as we're going." Kenny muttered turning the engine off.

"Far enough for the time being, maybe we can pick up some gas around here." Chris said as they all got out and started looking around. He looked at the surrounding buildings, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end as the smell of decay washed over him.

But it was the silence that got to him. The same dead silence that he remembered from the woods where he had woke up.

Taking out the Glock and flipping the safety off, he turned to Clementine. "Clem, you and Duck stick close to us. If you see anything out of the ordinary tell us immediately." the girl nodded as they set off down a nearby alley. Their footsteps seemingly echoing throughout the entire town.

There wasn't any movement as they turned down a street, passing by a drug store with the neon sign still glowing with power. Chris took note of a lone corpse wearing hospital scrubs and a name tag, pinned underneath a downed telephone poll and propped against a wall when Duck called out to them.

"Look!" the boy pointed down another street where someone was crouched down behind an overturned sedan.

"Guess there are still people here after all." Kenny said stepping to the front. Chris felt something off about the situation and reached to stop him, but it was too late. "Hey there! You friendly? Truck's run out of gas."

The figure stopped what it was doing, raising up to see them standing there with half its face torn off with part of a man's arm dropping from its blood soaked mouth.

Walkers suddenly started coming from every direction, stumbling and crawling out from store fronts, under cars and out from alleyways and began to close in on the group from all sides.

"FUCK!" Kenny exclaimed backing up as the group stood closer together.

"We're trapped!" Katjaa screamed as the horde started boxing them in.

Chris gritted his teeth, aiming his gun at the undead before looking down and seeing a lead pipe at his feet. "Kenny! Catch!" he shouted picking up the blunt object and tossing it to the fisherman before taking out the hammer from his belt and holding it in his other hand.

Driving the blunt end into a walker's forehead and caved it in with a loud crunch, he spun around with the pistol raised and shot another one through the left eye when it reached out to grab Katjaa.

Snatching the pipe from the air, the older man swung it hard into the temple of the closest walker and laying it out with one strike. Kicking another one away and bringing the weapon down on a second one's skull while more began to pour out from the nearby buildings.

One of the creatures flew past him and slammed against the side of a dead car and he turned to see the fighter roundhouse kicking another walker, the monster's head hitting a dumpster hard enough to snap its neck at a sharp angle before swinging around and burying the claw-end of the hammer into the top of the head of a third.

"AHHHH! NO!" the two men spun around and found a walker throwing itself on top of Duck, grabbing his arm and pulling it up to its mouth to take a bite out of it.

Chris snapped up his gun to take the shot when another gunshot rang out, the side of the walker's head exploded outward splattering the boy with blood and gore.

All eyes turned to the front of the pharmacy where a woman wearing a stained white-blouse and knee-length skirt was standing by the now open pharmacy door with two men standing by her. "RUN!" one of the men wearing a jacket and ball-cap shouted as the woman fired another shot and took down another walker.

Chris faced the coming horde and fired two more shots, keeping the undead at bay with their unknown savior as the others ran into the store. When they had made it, the two shooters spun and followed after them, the man that had called out closing a gate that was outside the door and snapping a combination lock on to it just as the walkers slammed into the other side, arms reaching through the bars trying to get at them as they slammed the doors to the pharmacy closed.

X

Last one inside, the fighter pressed his back to the door, gun still in hand as he listened to the walkers trying to break down the gate outside. "We can't take risks like this!" Turning to the stores interior, he found five other people all ready occupying the building.

The woman that helped keep the walkers off of them, another man wearing a green shirt standing by the window keeping watch on the outside, a second woman wearing a black tank top and jeans who was scowling at the first woman, an older man who looked beyond pissed off, and the man that had sealed the gate, his appearance that of asian descent and as Chris got a closer look felt his eyes widen.

 _"Wait a minute...that's Glenn!"_ he screamed in his thoughts. Seeing yet another familiar face in such a short period of time.

"And we can't just let people die, either!" the first woman said to the second with narrowed eyes.

The other woman glowered, "When I SAY that door stays shut no matter what' I fucking MEAN it." she hissed through clenched teeth. "We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!"

"Worse! They could have led them right to us!" said the older man.

Chris felt his anger spike, "Hey! We have kids with us!" he whisper/yelled getting their attention. "The whole fucking town is infested, so don't pin that on us. And we're not dangerous to any of you." They all looked down at the gun in his hand as he flipped the safety off and slipped it into the waistband of his jeans to prove his point.

"I see ONE little girl..." the disgruntled man snarked.

Clementine gripped Chris' other hand making him look down at her, "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I...I have to pee." she said with her knees buckling a little, all the while the unknown group around them continued to argue.

"Hold on for just another minute or two, we'll find a bathroom, okay?" he replied before turning back to the stand off.

"They've got kids, Lily." Glenn said to the one obviously leading them.

'Lily' shook her head, "Those things outside don't care either way, Glenn."

"Then maybe you should join 'em, then. You'll have something in common!" Kenny said now pissed.

"Kenny, cool it!" the fighter said holding his arm. "Starting shit won't solve anything, and they've got a right to be a little afraid here." he whispered getting the man to relax, if only slightly. Neither of them noticing that Clementine had broken off from them and was heading to the bathroom located at the back of the store.

"Goddamn it, Lily! You have to control these people!" the old man of the group bellowed at the woman in question.

"Carley and Glenn just ran out there!" Lilly said back.

"I don't give a flying fuck! We're in a warzone!"

Kenny turned to the fighter, "Can you believe this woman?"

The man turned to him and sneered, "That _woman_ is my daughter." he said low and dangerously. "So watch your fucking tone!"

"I can see the resemblance. My son won't grow up to be a raging fucking lunatic, that's for certain." the fisherman shot back.

"Son?" the man turned and saw Katjaa cleaning the blood off of Duck at the nearby concession counter. "Holy shit! One of them is bitten!"

"Duck wasn't bitten!" Chris said immediately coming to the boy's defense.

"The hell he isn't, we have to end this now before he turns!" the man began making his way to the mother and child only for Kenny to step in his path.

"Over my dead body..."

The man narrowed his eyes to slits, "Then we'll dig one hole."

"No! I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite! He's fine!" Katjaa exclaimed while working twice as hard to clean her son up.

"Dad, we don't know if he's bitten for sure." Lily said taking hold of her father's arm.

"Don't you fucking people get it?!" the man roared, yanking his arm from Lily's hands. "We've already SEEN this happen. We let someone with a bite stay and we all end up bitten!"

"Shut up." Kenny growled, his fists clenched as everyone began to gather around.

"We gotta throw him out! Or smash his head in!"

"KENNY, CHRIS STOP HIM!" Katjaa wailed as she desperately search Duck over for any sign of a bite.

Chris got in the man's face, completely ignoring the fact that he stood almost a head shorter than him. "You're not putting a fucking hand on anyone." he said dangerously. "You so much as take another step near that boy, you won't know which asshole to shit from."

"Will everyone CHILL THE FUCK OUT!" the other woman, Carley shouted.

"Nobody is doing anything." Lily said sternly.

"Lily, shut up." the man snapped at her before turning to the other woman, "And you, shut the fuck up. They will find us and they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter. But right now, we're about to be TRAPPED in here with one of those things!"

Kenny snarled at him, "What do you mean?"

"He's bitten! That's how you turn!"

Katjaa did one final check before speaking, "He's not bitten! Chris, please, stop this! It's upsetting him!" she pleaded to the fighter.

"Oh, I'm 'upsetting' him?" the man snarked. "Upsetting is getting eaten alive! I'm not putting my daughter or the rest of us at risk simply because you fuckers won't accept the truth!"

"We've all got people in here! We can figure this out without killing anybody, there's always another way!" Chris said not backing down an inch.

"Yeah," The man said gravely, "With a shovel."

"Larry! Jesus Christ!" Glenn said not believing how bad things were getting.

Kenny snapped, "That's it! I'm gonna kill him! Kat, watch Duck!"

"Chris." Clementine called from the back of the store while her guardian continued to stand his ground.

"Yeah, Clem?" he asked back not taking his eyes off of Larry.

"Someone's in the bathroom." she said hopping from foot to foot from desperation.

"It's probably just locked. Try under the counter, the key's probably there."

Larry looked at the group, "Look, I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just trying to keep us all alive and my daughter safe."

"No, you're just the guy arguing for wanting to kill a kid!" Kenny fired back.

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite. WATCH!"

"She just said he wasn't bit!"

"And if she's wrong?" Larry asked leaning back. "The first thing he'll do is sink his teeth into his mom's face. Then, once she's dead, he'll probably pounce on YOUR little girl." he said shooting a glance toward Chris.

"For the last time, Duck wasn't bitten!" the fighter shouted. "And even if, _if_ , he was, I think we can handle a little kid."

"A little kid?!" Larry said incrudensiously, "He'll be an uncontrollable man-eater! There's no getting around it, and were tossing him out NOW!" he surged forward to make a grab for Duck-

Only to freeze when the barrel of a gun was pressed under his chin.

"You're not touching him, or anybody else." Chris growled almost ferally, finger tight on the trigger. "And if you so much as THREATEN anyone in my group again..." he clicked the safety off for emphasis. "I will put you fucking down."

For a few tense seconds, no one moved. No one could even breathe the tension was so thick. And yet in one moment it all shattered.

Clementine's frightened scream pierced the air grabbing the attention of everyone. She backpeddled from the bathroom door just as the rotting form of a walker fell out and began to crawl its way after her.

"CLEMENTINE!" the fighter shouted, vaulting over a low shelf and charging forward as the undead grabbed for her legs. "GET AWAY FROM HER YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" he drove the steel-toed tip of his right boot hard into the monster's forehead with a sickening crunch, knocking it away from the girl and flat on its back where he stomped on its face until its skull exploded under his heel.

Taking a few deep breaths, he turned to Clementine who was shaking like a leaf. "Clem, you okay?" he asked gently, kneeling down and holding her face in his hands, looking her over for injuries.

She whimpered with tears in her eyes before throwing her arms around his neck, burrowing her face in his chest. "It's okay, sweetheart. It can't hurt you now." he whispered as he held her close.

"Uh...guys." Glenn said nervous as pounding could be heard along the boarded up windows around the store. Everyone stood tense as the noise continued, the walkers trying to find a way in.

"Everybody down! Stay quiet!" Lily whispered loudly to the group as they all took cover. Clementine clung to Chirs, face still in his shirt while he had his gun raised at the closest window. The hungered groans and moans of the undead outside filling the store in tandem.

"There gonna get in!" Larry said.

"Shut up!" Kenny snapped just as the sounds of automatic gunfire could be heard somewhere in the distance along with a couple of small explosions.

"That the military?" asked the man that had been keeping watch before.

"I don't know," replied Lily while it continued.

The sound of a helicopter flying overhead roared loudly and soon the pounding on the windows came to an end, the walkers outside following after the louder noise and leaving those in the pharmacy alone. "Thank god, for whatever it was." Glenn said relieved.

"We almost died because of this bitch and this asshole's itchy trigger fingers!" Larry roared sending a withering glare Carley and Chris. "That was stupid! That was-" he stopped mid-sentence with a grunt, grabbing at his chest before collapsing to the floor.

"DAD!" Lily screamed running to his side as he clutched at his shirt even tighter.

"What's happening to him?" the fighter asked putting his gun away.

Lily looked up at him, fear for her father clear in her eyes, "It's his heart. He doesn't have his pills to help."

"Nitroglycerin pills?" asked Katjaa.

"YES." the younger woman said stressfully, "We're out and have been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here! Please, try to get in there! Behind the counter where all the pills are being kept!"

Chris was conflicted. The guy had threatened to kill Duck and seemed to be a boardline loose cannon...but when he saw the state his daughter was in, and the pleading in her voice, his better nature stepped in.

"We'll get them, there's gotta be another way inside." he didn't feel right about trying to help the bastard, but they had bigger problems at the moment. "For now we should split up and try to gather anything useful, we could be stuck here while that horde is still out there."

"I'm starting to think that this drugstore isn't a permanent solution." commented Glenn now joining the conversation.

"He's right," added Kenny, "This isn't exactly Fort Knox."

The fighter began to think about their options, "We need gas, at least enough so that we all can get the hell out of town."

Glenn nodded, "Was thinking the same thing. There's a motel not too far from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can."

"If you're up for it, take this with you." Jason said handing the delivery man the walkie-talkie that he was still carrying. "Clementine's got the other one, contact her if you need any help. We'll bail you out. Keep your head down and get back here as fast and as quiet as you can, it might not be safe here for much longer."

"Gotcha, wish me luck." Glenn turned to the office door on the opposite side of the store and disappeared through it. Leaving the others to coordinate amongst themselves and get set up in their temporary haven for the time being.

The unnamed man, Doug, went back to watching the front to keep an eye on the undead outside while everyone else began looking through what was available within the store.

Chris sent another look toward the boarded up windows where he could hear the walkers still milling around out in the street. _"Can't stay here long, we better work fast."_

X

About an hour had passed since Chris' group had arrived at the drug store, and the whole time he had spent it going through the shelves, boxes and cabinets that he had access to for anything they would be useful to them.

The store had been ransacked pretty hard, supplies were scarce and whatever was left wasn't much help for their situation. There were a couple of energy bars laying around that got past out to keep everyone fed, and a couple of batteries that were used on a radio to help them keep ears out on what was happening elsewhere.

He couldn't help but chuckle when Carley had trouble getting the thing to work only to find that she had but the batteries in backwards, something that left her flushed with embarrassment considering she was a reporter.

After talking with the group that had inhabited the place before them, the fighter discovered that the place had been abandoned when they had arrived. Larry having dragged the bodies of an elderly couple out into the alley incase they would come back.

When everyone was settled for the time being, Chris headed over to Kenny and his family to check on them. "Everything okay?" he asked, Duck had been unnaturally quiet since the ordeal outside and it had him a bit worried for the boy.

"As good as can be expected." replied Kenny, "Thanks for stepping in back there."

The younger man shrugged, "Wish it didn't have to come that, but he was being an ass, and there was no way in hell I was going to let him hurt your kid."

"Thank you for that, Chris." Katjaa said again while reaching out and squeezing his hand.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat, I know you both would do the same for Clementine if the situation called for it." Chris looked over behind the counter where his charge was munching on the energy bar he had given her, eyes locked on her walkie-talkie as she waited for Glenn to contact them.

"How's she doing?" asked Kenny.

"Good, for the most part. A little shook up but nothing too bad." came the reply.

"She's a tough one, right there." commented the fisherman, "No normal little girl can make it through something like this the way she has."

The fighter couldn't help but smile at the girl as she looked his way, smiling back and waving in his direction. "Yeah, she's special alright." he said lowly before turning back to the family, "I'm gonna search out the office, if anything happens come find me."

Kenny nodded, "You got it, man."

Turning to the lone door that said **'Employees Only'** , a smaller written sign below it stating **'Alive Here.'** , Chris grabbed the knob and turned it slowly, pushing the door open and peering into the room beyond to be sure that it was really cleared out.

The place was a mess like the rest of the store. Overturned furniture was pressed up against the doors leading out into the alley and into the pharmacy in the back. A small table was set up in the corner by a bookshelf that had a tv on top, a lantern on its surface lighting part of the room revealing empty food cans and a dented first aid kit.

On the floor was a mattress and blankets that were stained with blood, a dried pool on the tiles next to it that spread out pretty far. _"These people didn't deserve this..."_ Chris thought to himself while pushing the door open the rest of the way and stepping inside. The door stopped part-way making him turn in time to see Clementine slip through as well.

"What are you doing here, Clem?" he asked wondering why she followed him.

"I thought I could help you find a way into the back, if that's okay." she replied looking up with her bright eyes.

Chris smiled, "Sounds good, the two of us together should be able to figure this out." the girl beamed up at him before surveying the room. "What did you think of everyone out there?" he asked as they started searching.

"Everyone seems okay, well, maybe not the sick guy." Clementine said at his side.

"Yeah, he was kind of a jerk wasn't he?" said the fighter. He noticed that she had stopped and turned to see what was the matter. She was standing at the edge of the pool of dried blood, eyes not leaving the surface as she trembled a bit. "Clem?" he asked walking back over to her.

She looked up at him. "T-That thing in the bathroom...it tried to get me." her eyes started shimmering, "But, you stopped it. C-Can you do that more?"

He nodded seriously, "I won't let anything happen to you." he held out his right pinky finger to her, "And that's a promise." Clementine smiled as she wrapped her smaller finger with his and they locked them together. "Now, let's find Larry's medicine and get out of here."

Heading to the back door that led to the pharmacy, the fighter grabbed a pallet that was leaning against the desk blocking the entrance. Moving it aside, a hard-wood cane fell to the side and clattered to the floor. Picking it up, he tested the weight of it before leaning it against the pallet he had just moved. "Now, for the desk." he muttered looking at the obstruction.

"Can I help?" asked Clementine with a hopeful look on her face.

"Sure," he replied grabbing on to one side while she took the other, "On the count of three, pull it back. Watch your fingers so they don't get pinched." he instructed getting a nod in response. "One, two...three." They both pulled the desk back a little ways from the door

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's not heavy." his charge replied.

They moved the desk a bit more before Chris asked her another question, "How do you feel about what's happening outside?"

Clementine looked down, "It's not good." her head raised and she smiled at him, "But I think it'll get better."

Chris didn't really know how to respond to that, instead he just smiled back and nodded as they grabbed the desk again and moved it back some more. "Do you have kids?" Clementine asked suddenly making the fighter stumble a little bit.

"I'm still pretty young, Clem. So no, not at the moment." he said back as he started angling the desk toward the wall.

"You don't have a family?" she asked with furrowed brows.

Her guardian closed his eyes, "I did...but we don't talk anymore."

"Why? Do they hate you?" Clementine pushed.

"In a way, yeah." the fighter answered truthfully, "They wanted me to be something I wasn't, and they didn't like it when I refused to act the way they wanted. So we stopped speaking to each other. I didn't want it to be that way, but they just didn't like who I was as a person."

The little girl's brows furrowed more, "But... _I_ like the way you are. You're nice, and strong, and protect people from those monsters. You're a good person."

For the first time in a while, Chris felt his heart warm up a little. To know that this girl, who didn't even really know him, looked at him in such a way made him feel like he actually meant something to someone. "Thanks, Clem. That really means a lot to me." They both went back to the desk and moved it again, pushing it up against the wall so that it was out of the way.

"OWW!" Clementine jumped back clutching at her right index-finger as a small stream of blood slipped down it.

"You okay?" the fighter asked concerned.

"I hurt my finger," she said showing him the damage.

Looking it over, he picked her up by her waist and set her down on the desk, "Keep a little pressure on it." he turned to the small first aid kit on the other table and popped it open. There was barely anything left in it, but there were a couple of bandaids at the bottom that he picked up and brought over to the desk. "Now, let's see if we can fix that finger." he said taking the girl's hand and looking at the small cut.

"It still hurts a little." she said as he gently wiped some of the blood away.

"It's all good, sweetheart." he took out the bandaid and wrapped it around the tip of her finger effectively sealing it. "There, nothing to it." he said grinning up at her and getting a small giggle in return.

"Chris?" she asked getting his attention when she calmed down, "What if my parents come home and I'm not there?"

The answering machine messages played through his thoughts again, a cold feeling settling in his stomach at the possible truth on whether or not her parents were even still alive. But at the same time he couldn't just crush her with it, what little bit of innocence she had left would be destroyed.

And in a time and place like this, something like that should be cherished for as long as possible.

"Don't worry, Clem. I'm sure they'd try and track us down." he answered.

"Yeah, okay. We better keep a look out then." she said sounding optimistic. "I've still got my walkie-talkie, incase they try that way."

Chris nodded, biting the inside of his cheek wanting to tell her the horrible truth but banished the thought before looking her in the eye again. "Listen, Clem. I know I'm not you're dad or anything like that. But I _will_ take care of you, no matter what it takes and no matter what gets in my way. I will protect you, okay?"

Clementine looked up at him and saw how serious he was and couldn't help but feel safe knowing he was there.

Turning to the pharmacy door, he tried the handle and found it locked.

"Damn, maybe the keys are around here somewhere." the fighter started going through the drawers of the desk, finding loose papers and pens but no keys. He'd also found a remote control for the tv in the office, but as expected, none of the stations were working.

Leaving the remote on the desk, he went over to the pool of blood and found a shattered picture frame of the people that ran the store, an elderly couple and their two older sons standing in front of the building the day it was opened.

Releasing a small sigh, he set the broken frame on the table by the lantern before helping his charge down from the desk. "Let's head back into the drug store, maybe we can find what we need to get in the back from there."

Clementine nodded, "Okay." They were about part way to the door when her walkie-talkie went off.

 _ **"Hey there, this is Glenn and uh, I'm kinda in a jam here."**_ Glenn's voice echoed from the speaker. _**"Uh, little girl, if you're there, can you put your daddy on the phone? Or on the talkie, or whatever?"**_

 _"Do I seriously look old enough to be her dad?"_ Chris thought with a shake of his head as Clementine handed her walkie to him. "Glenn? It's Chris, what's wrong?" he asked as they stepped back into the store and garnering the attention of the others.

 _ **"So...I'm down at that motor inn and, well, I-I'm stuck..."**_

"How bad?" asked the fighter.

 _ **"Pretty bad...I, uh, saw a chance to get some supplies for the group and a bunch of the roaming ones got the jump on me."**_ Glenn replied. _**"I'm hiding out here, but they won't leave."**_

"What's the problem?" asked Kenny when he overheard the conversation.

"Glenn's trapped at the motor inn, walkers got him surrounded." Chris replied going back to the radio, "Glenn, we're gonna talk it over and send someone out to come get you. Just sit tight and try not to bring any attention to where you're hiding."

 _ **"Awesome, I'll just sit tight until then."**_

Looking down at his charge, the fighter slipped her radio on his hip, "I'm gonna hold on to this, at least until we get Glenn back. Don't worry, I'll take good care of it." She nodded hesitantly as he turned to the group.

"So what's the plan?" asked Kenny crossing his arms.

Looking at everyone around him, Chris nodded to himself before speaking, "Doug doesn't seem to do too well with walkers, you've got your family to look after, and Lily needs to stay with her dad for the time being. Carley and I are pretty good shots, so we'll head down to the motor inn, grab Glenn and get back here as quickly as we can."

"Sounds good, I'm in." said the reporter.

The fighter nodded to her, "Alright, we'll head out in ten minutes. Gather what supplies you think you'll need and we'll head out through the exit in the office." He started going through the box of supplies he had managed to gather, pulling out two rolls of duct tape and a couple of magazines that he had found on one of the racks in the front.

 _"Time to put what I know to good use."_

 ** _A/N: Running into another key character in the franchise, and Chris is off to save his skin. With tension already mounting and their situation growing more dire, how long will it be before the powder keg is lit?_**

 ** _I already have the next two chapters prepped and ready, they will both be posted within the next week so be on the look out. Till then folks!_**


	4. Escape from Macon

_**A/N: Here we are once again, ladies and gents. I got a bit of news to share and I'd figured this would be the best place to do so.**_

 _ **DemonFireX and I have been conversing back and forth over the weekend, reason being that he wants me to adopt another story from his collection...and it's what I consider his crown jewel. I'm talking about his Mass Effect/Crysis series 'Crysis Effect'.**_

 _ **I was surprised that he was willing to sign over by far his greatest story, and it's a lot to consider with everything I got going right now. So I haven't made a decision about anything just yet. Which is why I posted what's happening here for fans of both mine and his to see what you all think about it.**_

 _ **With that bit out of the way, time to get back to what I do best.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead.**_

The back alleys of Macon were shrouded in darkness, a few roaming walkers stumbled through the streets outside, but there didn't seem to be any in the path of the two individuals making their way toward the outer edge of town.

Chris pressed his back to a dumpster, gun in hand as he peered around the side and out into the street. Ducking down as another walker skulked past the opening and disappeared behind a couple of overturned cars. He signaled farther down the alley and Carley moved up to crouch down next to him.

"How much farther is this motel?" asked the fighter checking to see if the coast was clear.

"About four more blocks, it's on the road that heads out of Downtown Macon." replied Carley holding her own gun ready. Her eyes looking down at the younger man's arms where he had two thick sports magazines wrapped around his forearms and bound there with duct tape. "You really think that makeshift armor of yours will work?"

The fighter looked down at his arms a moment, "They should, their teeth can only go so far if something blocks them. One comes at me, it'll buy me a couple of seconds to put them down." he explained before checking the street again, "Coast is clear, let's move."

The duo got up and crouch-ran across the open street, the walkers still milling about none the wiser as they disappeared down another alley and moved closer to the outskirts.

It had been a longer trek then they had anticipated, the amount of undead filling the streets proving to be a challenge to avoid but they had managed regardless. Sticking to the shadows and keeping out of the main roads as much as possible while they picked their way toward where Glenn was being held up.

It had taken them about 20 minutes to get out of the town's limits and up the road, the neon light of the Traveler's Motel glowing brightly in the dark with a couple of street lamps lighting the road as they approached. Chris kept his gun up, eyes sharp as he kept a look out for wandering undead in the vicinity.

"Fuck! Get down!" He whispered pulling the reporter down with him behind a low-wall. Just barely missing a walker as it got up from the wall of the motel and ambled past where they had just ducked. Both of them gripping their weapons as the creature moved away from their location.

Peering over the wall, Chris was able to count five walkers within the motel's property. Three of them roaming around the parking lot, the other two were pounding on a door to a room on the second floor in the far corner.

Movement out of the corner of his eye made him glance in the direction of the ice machine in front of them. "Did you see that?" Carley asked following the same line of sight as he was.

"Yeah, I did." the fighter replied, vaulting over the low-wall and slowly approaching the metal container. Gun leading and the reporter behind him aiming incase he needed it, he grabbed the handle and pulled it open.

And was greeted with the sight of a relieved Glenn who looked at the barrel of his handgun uneasily. "Uh...hey? I'm glad you guys finally made it." he said climbing out of the ice machine.

"Jesus, Glenn." Carley muttered as the delivery man and the fighter vaulted back over the wall and crouched down next to her.

"Alright, that was easier than I thought it would be." said Chris a bit relieved that it hadn't gotten any worse.

"Can we just get out of here before any of these things notice us?" said Carley wanting to get as far from this place as possible.

Glenn shook his head, "We can't yet, there's a survivor up there that needs our help." he pointed up to the door where the two walkers were still pounding on the surface trying to get inside.

The reporter shook her head in return, "No way, we gotta go. NOW."

"Just listen. I was out here looking for gas. And then, up there in the corner room, I heard crying coming from inside." Glenn started explaining. "It's a girl. We talked and she got frightened. I was trying to get in and help her and she started yelling and saying I was bitten. I tried to convince her I wasn't and that's when all of these guys came out of the forest. A couple almost got me and I ended up hiding in the ice machine."

"Lucky you, now let's go." Carley pressed.

"We can't just leave her." said the delivery man pleadingly.

Chris nodded seriously, "No, we can't."

Carley looked between them as though they each had grown another head, "You two are suicidal...over a girl!"

The fighter turned on her, "And if that so-called _girl_ was you? And you were in desperate need of help, what then?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers.

For a few moments the reporter faltered before sighing, "Alright, fine. Let's go save Glenn's damsel in distress." They got up and moved along the wall, running across the opening to the parking lot and hiding down behind the wall below the motel's sign.

Chris looked out over the parking lot at their opposition before looking at his companions. "Alright, here's what I have in mind. We have no idea how hard it's going to be to get her out of that room, she's obviously traumatized. So we'll have to take out every single one of them before we can even try."

He saw Carley check the clip of her pistol, "Quietly." he stated getting her to look up at him. "Noise will only draw attention, and might even cause more to show up. We need to be as discreet as possible." Looking back over the parking lot, he caught sight of a walker feasting on the corpse of an unlucky individual, he also took notice of another moving along the wall of doors by the stairs leading up to where the girl was hiding, and a third laying against the rear tire of a derelict car that was up on blocks. The one that had moved when they arrived having disappeared behind the RV that was across from where they were hiding.

Looking down at the ground behind the wall, he reached out and grabbed an old pillow that had been lying there. "Good luck smothering them to death." Carley said sarcastically while wondering what he had up his sleeve.

"Just trust me and stay low." he whispered back before moving along the wall toward the other entrance to the parking lot. The one closest to the walker slouched against the car, "Carley, stay right on my ass and have your gun ready."

"But the noise..." she trailed off as he held up the pillow with a smirk on his face. Nodding in understanding of what he was up to, the duo moved out from their cover and headed toward the undead.

The creature's lone eye seeing them coming, arms reaching out to grab them just as the fighter pressed the pillow hard over its face and pinning it to the car. Carley moved up right behind him, pressing the barrel to where the walker's head was located and pulling the trigger. The gunshot muffled by the cushion as the corpse slumped to the ground with a bleeding hole in its head.

"That was sick!" Glenn whispered to them from his hiding place.

Tossing the now useless pillow aside, Chris moved over to the driver's side door of the car. Opening it as quietly as he could and leaning into the vehicle, finding a spark plug on the seat and pocketing it before reaching for the gear shift. "Get ready to move on my go." he whispered to Carley as he shifted the car into neutral and closed the door.

Moving toward the front of the vehicle, he gave it a strong shove causing it to roll down off the blocks it was on and head straight for the walker moving along the motel wall. "Move!" he said to the reporter as they ran to where Glenn was hiding behind a truck below the balcony where the survivor was hiding out.

The car gained speed as it moved across the asphalt before slamming into the walker and pinning it to the wall with the back bumper. The two walkers above turned at the sudden noise and looked down at their struggling comrade before going back to trying to get into the room before them.

"That was close." said Carley as things seemed to settle down. Chris moved along the truck and peered into through the window hoping to find something else they could use against the remaining walkers.

Luck being on their side when he found a screwdriver laying on the seat. But the issue was that they doors were locked and there didn't seem to be any way to get inside other than to break the window.

 _"Too much noise...there's gotta be another-"_ he paused mid-thought when he remembered the spark plug he'd gotten from the car. Remembering back to his time at the auto body shop and how the porcelain contained within the part was able to shatter glass like it was nothing.

Dropping the sparkplug to the ground, he stomped down on it and crushed it into pieces. Reaching down to pick up the piece he was looking for, he turned to the car window, cocking his arm back and throwing the tiny component into the window and breaking it easily.

After waiting a moment or two to be sure that the walkers didn't hear the noise, the fighter reached in through the broken window and grabbed the screwdriver. "That could scramble a brain or two." Glenn commented.

"Had the same thought in mind." replied Chris, motioning for them to follow him as they moved back to their original spot below the sign. He looked at the undead that was still eating, flipping the tool around so that the end was pointed down like a dagger as he moved out from behind the wall and crept slowly up behind the walker.

Pausing in mid-bite, the monster went to turn around only for the fighter to grab it by the forehead and stab the screwdriver through the back of its skull. It gave a soft groan/exhale and fell motionless while Chris gently laid it on the ground by the body it was feeding from, motioning to the others as they all moved to the front of the RV.

The fighter peered around the large vehicle and saw the walker from before just standing there and staring at the side of it. He whistled just loud enough for the creature to hear him and ducked down as it turned and began to shuffle their way.

"What are you-" he held his hand up stopping Carley's question cold as his legs tensed, hearing the walker's dragging footsteps as it drew closer to where they were hunkered down.

Just as it came up to them, he was in motion.

Chris' right leg kicked out taking the walker off it's feet, he was on it a second later, driving the screwdriver through its left eye and killing it instantly. They didn't stop there, as one, they moved over to the walker pinned by the car. Seeing them coming, it reached it's arms out to grab at them emitting a series of growls before being silenced when the same tool used to kill the other two was driven into the top of its head where it broke.

Glenn chuckled, "Dude, where'd your weapon go?" he asked in mock seriousness.

"Asshole over here took it." the fighter said smirking as he tossed the handle aside and turned to the case on the wall next to him. Finding a fire axe sitting on the pegs within. "It's all good though, I think I found something better." he picked the axe up, checking its weight as he held the handle in both hands.

Looking up toward the last two walkers, he walked slowly to the stairs leading to the balcony. "You two stay down here and keep a look out for anymore. I got these guys."

"Try to hurry up, being here for too long won't be good for any of us." Carley said while gripping her pistol.

Nodding to her, Chris walked up the stairs as quietly as possible, reaching the second landing and facing the two walkers as they continued to pound on the walls by the door. He gripped the axe in his hands, heart pounding in his chest as he started heading toward them.

The first walker turned, noticing him coming and began to shuffle its way toward him. Waiting until the right moment, he swung the axe and slammed the flat side against the side of its head and sent it pitching over the railing and falling to the ground head-first with a resounding crunch.

Hearing the noise, the last walker turned only to have its head taken off its shoulders. The fighter pulled the axe from the wall and whistled to the others as he approached the door the undead had been trying to get into, hearing the sound of someone crying on the other side.

A board was nailed across the frame sealing it from the outside which had Chris curious before he knocked loudly on the door itself. "Hello? We're here to help!" he said through the wood.

"Please, just go away!" a woman's voice cried out.

"Let's go guys." Carley said as she and Glenn stood close by.

"Just hold on a second," Chris said before trying again. "Miss, if you open the door we can take you to a safer place. We've got a group back in town that can take care of you."

"No! No! No! Please!" came the reply.

"She's in trouble!" Glenn said anxiously.

Stepping back from the door, the fighter gripped his axe and raised it. "Hang on, we're coming in!" He swung down and chopped through the board that was sealing the door before trying the knob. Finding it locked he gave it a swift kick when the woman spoke again.

"Stop, just stop! I'm coming out." A moment later the door opened to reveal a young woman with light-brown hair wearing shorts and a purple t-shirt. Her complexion was very pale, dark circles shadowed underneath her eyes that had started to take on a yellowish tint to them.

But what stood out the most about her was the wound on her side that she was covering with her hand, blood seeping out from between her fingers and staining her clothes dark-crimson.

"Oh my god..." Carley said, her face paling.

"I...I said stay away..." the woman whimpered, removing her hand and revealing a chunk of flesh missing from her side. The wound in the distinctive shape of someone's mouth. "I told you. I said go away! I'm bit. But you wouldn't just leave."

"M-Maybe it isn't that bad. You could be fine." Glenn tried to reason,

She shook her head hard, "I won't be fine! My boyfriend was bitten! You get sick and die and you come back and you kill anything you can find!"

"You have a boyfriend?" Glenn asked, sounding downtrodden.

Chris sent him a scathing look given the severity of the situation that he flinched back from before turning to the distraught woman.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" he asked feeling sympathetic toward the woman.

She looked down and saw the Glock in the front pocket of his jeans, "You have a gun. Can I borrow it?"

Carley and Glenn sent her a stunned look. "What do you mean by 'borrow'?" asked the reporter, not liking where this was going.

"I...I don't want to be one of those things, it's not Christian. Please...give it to me, let me end this before it's too late...I don't wanna be one of them! They're...they're...satanic." she pleaded with them.

The fighter looked into her eyes and saw that nothing they could do would change her mind. She wanted to end this on her terms before she turned and was asking for their help.

How could he deny someone their last wish?

Exhaling slowly, he drew his pistol. "Glenn, grab the supplies you managed to find and get them into your car. Carley, go with him." he said with all emotion gone from his voice.

"Chris, what the hell are you doing?" Glenn said in shock. Carley was in the same state looking at the fighter in a similar fashion.

"Both of you know as well as I do that there isn't a good outcome to this. She wants to do this on her terms, it wouldn't be right to deny her of that." he explained to them not taking his eyes off the woman before him.

"Are you sure about this?" asked Carley really not liking this.

Chris nodded, "It's my choice to help her...I won't make you guys stay. Just wait for me down by the car and I'll be there in a minute." The other two hesitated for a few moments before nodding back to him, casting one final look at the sick woman and heading toward the parking lot.

"Thank you so much, I know how terrible this must be." the woman said relieved as the fighter handed her his weapon.

He looked at her sadly, "God bless you ma'am, and may he accept you with open arms." he said knowing that she was religious.

She smiled at him, "Thank you...You're a good man." she raised the gun up and pressed it to her temple.

Chris closed his eyes and turned his head as the weapon went off, the splash of blood filled the air before the dull thud of a body hitting the ground.

Opening his eyes, the fighter reached down and picked up his gun. His body and mind numb as he closed the woman's eyes as blood pooled below her head before turning and heading toward the stairs, going down to the parking lot where Glenn and Carley were waiting for him.

X

The ride back was done in silence. No one wanted to speak about what had happened back at the motel, wanting to put it as far out of their minds as possible.

Chris sat in the back of Glenn's car, head bowed and eyes closed as the image of seeing the woman moments before she executed herself forever burned into his memory. His hand clenching onto the cross Maggie had given him nearly to the point of his skin being punctured.

He had never been a very religious person, even less now seeing the state of the world with the dead eating the living. But at the moment it didn't matter, he just needed something other than the reality of things around him.

It was in this moment that everything finally hit home. A part of himself must have still held on to some belief that this was all still some kind of dream and he'd wake up at some point. Even after all the walkers he'd killed and the near-death moments that could have taken him out, part of his brain still refused to except reality.

But that was all done now. This _was_ reality. Zombies were real, real people were dying out there, some in very horrible and painful ways. There was no _waking up_ , he was in this shit now and there was no turning back.

He popped the clip out of his Glock, counting eight bullets left before snapping it back in place and flicking the safety on. "Chris?" glancing up he saw Carley looking back at him with a concerned expression. "You okay?"

"Been better." the fighter said running a hand over his head. "Seen too much death in the last two days...just preparing myself to see more in the near future." his voice was quiet, but devoid of emotion which unsettled the reporter more than she cared to admit.

They lapsed back into silence as Glenn pulled the car into the alley behind the pharmacy, getting out, the trio went through the back entrance into the office and headed straight into the store where everyone stood waiting for them.

"Hey, everything alright?" asked Kenny.

Chris nodded, "Yeah. Couple of close calls, but nothing that couldn't be handled. Glenn's okay...we're all okay."

Glenn bowed his head, hiding his eyes under the bill of his hat. "I've got a few cans of gas for your pickup in the trunk of my car."

The fisherman nodded, "Good to hear."

"How have things been here?" asked Carley.

"Our 'friend' is still in and out over there." Kenny said motioning to Larry who was still slumped on the floor with Lilly watching over him. "He won't survive anymore stress."

Chris nodded, "Then our next task is getting those pills, though the keys don't seem to be in the store. I checked around the alley out back when Carley and I went to go get Glenn and came up with nothing, think I'll check out front and see if they could be there."

The others nodded in agreement just as Clementine pushed her way through the group, reaching her guardian and wrapping her small arms around his waist. "I'm glad you're back." she mumbled into his shirt while the group dispersed.

The fighter smiled down at her as he embraced her back. "Everything been okay here?" he asked.

"Mmmhmm." She looked up and frowned when she looked him in the eye. "Did...did something bad happen?"

Chris sighed, "We...had a bit of trouble when we went to go get Glenn, but everyone's okay. Don't worry." He didn't want to mention anything about the woman taking her own life, better to keep that between himself, Glenn and Carley. "I'm going to go see if I can find the keys to the pharmacy. Stay put for a couple more minutes and I'll be right back." he said handing her, her walkie-talkie back. "Thank you for letting me borrow it."

Clementine nodded her thanks before heading to her spot back behind the counter. The fighter looked toward the front door where Doug was still keeping watch and heading in his direction, picking up his newly acquired axe along the way.

"Anything?" he asked the man.

Doug shook his head, "Nothing, luckily. Want to step outside, have a look around?" he asked.

"The gate outside still holding?" said the fighter.

"Yeah, and the undead seem to be ignoring this place for now. So it should be pretty safe for us if we go out as long as we keep the noise as low as possible." replied Doug. Chris nodded, motioning to the door as they opened it and stepped out into the warm night air.

Both of them paused as they got a good look at the four-way intersection outside the drug store. There were walkers _everywhere_ , losing count around thirty or more all roaming in the streets, a couple of them feeding on a corpse by the store across from where they were standing.

"I think I'm going to be sick." the other man groaned, holding his hand over his mouth seeing one walker pull out a long rope of intestines and began ripping into it. "All they do is...eat. And whatever's left..."

"Comes back as one of them." the fighter finished, his eyes looking at the horde before them with a calculating gaze. He stopped when he caught sight of the walker he had seen pinned against the dumpster when his group had arrived in town earlier.

He was african-american wearing set of teal-colored scrubs, but regardless of the fact that he was decaying like the others, the fighter recognized him from somewhere. "Over there." he said pointing at the walker in question as they crouched down to avoid detection. "I think that one might have the keys we need to get into the pharmacy."

"How can you be sure?" asked the other man sounding doubtful.

"There was a picture back in the office, he was in it with the people that owned this place. And the name tag he's wearing marks him as an employee. It's the best bet we have at the moment since the keys don't seem to be in the building." said Chris.

Doug thought it over before nodding in agreement. "Alright, we'll give it a shot. How do you want to do this?"

Chris looked around again, eyes locking on to the tv store across the street on the other side. Remembering the remote he found back in the office, he went back inside and came back a minute later with the device. Pointing it at the window containing a dozen different sets and pushed the power button.

Nothing.

"Here, let me." Doug said taking the device and tampering with it. "It's a universal remote, I think I might be able to program it to work with those tvs. As long as the power's still on over there." Another second or two later he pushed the power button and the tvs all switched on revealing bright screens filled with static.

A couple of walkers stopped and looked at the screens briefly before going back to their endless stalking. "It's working, but not enough." Chris looked through the bars of the gate and saw a brick laying on the ground just outside. But it was too far out of his reach, he'd have to open the gate to get it and the combination lock Glenn had put on it prevented that.

"I got an idea, but we need to open the gate for it to work." he said to Doug while moving back to the front door, picking up his axe and standing upright before approaching the front of the gate. The other man tensed as he positioned the axe just right before reeling back and hitting the lock with enough force to cut through it and knock it to the ground.

Freezing a moment, watching the surrounding undead to see if they overheard the noise, both men relaxed when they saw that they were in the clear.

Laying the axe to the side, the fighter opened the gate just enough to reach out and pick up the brick he had seen. "I know what you've got in mind." Doug said looking at the window to the tv store, "You only got one shot, you miss...and we're all in trouble."

"Then I better not miss, huh?" Chris stepped out of the safe confines, brick in hand as he gauged the distance he would need to throw before lobbing the brick through the air, over the ambling walkers' heads before it shattered through the glass.

The sound of the breaking window, followed quickly by the blast of white-noise from the static being displayed, turned the heads of every undead in the surrounding area. They all moved as one toward the source and began to pile around the now open window where it was at its loudest.

Satisfied with the results, Chris picked up his axe again and turned to Doug. "Keep an eye on those things. They start taking notice, warn me so I can get back here fast." the man nodded as the fighter braced himself before sprinting out of the gate toward the downed walker, trying his best to make his footfalls as soft as possible.

He reached the target in moments, the walker looked up and tried to grab him with its one good arm. Snarling and growling the whole time as it tried to get at the meal that had presented itself.

Being sure to stay out of its reach, Chris looked over to make sure the horde was still distracted before taking the axe in both hands. Raising it over his head and bringing it down on the struggling creature's skull with an echoing crunch. Dark blood and decaying brain matter splattering on the dumpster and the powerline that had been pinning it as it slumped forward.

After pulling the axe free and setting it aside, the fighter began checking the dead man's pockets as quickly as he could. Moving the body around some until he found purchase in the front pockets. _"Bingo!"_ he smirked pulling out a small ring of keys, slipping them into his own pocket before turning and heading back to the store.

"Chris move!" Doug called out. The fighter's head snapped to the side and saw the walkers by the tv store start to turn around, pale eyes locking on to his form and coming at him in a wave. He didn't stick around and bolted for the gate, closing it as best he could before they both went through the door and slammed it behind them.

"Lily! Got the keys!" Chris called over to her. "We gotta move fast, walkers outside know we're in here and the gate's unlocked." The woman was on her feet as they went straight into the office and toward the pharmacy door.

"You're pretty amazing, you know that." Lily said thankfully.

"Get back to me when we have the old man's pills and are on our way out of this infested shit-hole." the fighter replied unlocking the door and stepping through. He barely had a moment to register anything as the shrill cry of an alarm screeched through the air. "Oh FUCK!" he shouted over the noise. "EVERYONE, GRAB WHAT YOU CAN AND GET READY TO RUN!"

X

The alarm was so loud that it echoed through the silent town, anyone and anything within six square blocks heard it.

Walkers that had been laying dormant along several streets and alleys slowly rose to their feet, migrating toward all the noise while their remaining instinct to feed drove them. The horde outside the drug store began to steadily grow in number to the point that they stood shoulder to shoulder at the front. Rotten and decaying hands pounding on the boarded up windows, pushing through the unlocked gate and hammering on the doors as well while the people inside started scrambling.

"Duck, baby, time to go!" Katjaa said to her son as they started moving to the back. Carley ran to her purse and pulled out a spare clip for her gun and made sure that she was fully loaded while everyone grabbed anything useful.

"I'm gonna get the truck pulled up 'round back!" Kenny shouted out.

"Take Glenn and some gas to get it running!" Chris called after him and tossing his axe through the air that the fisherman caught. "Everyone get into the office and barricade it the best you can, when Kenny and Glenn come around start getting the hell out of here! Me, Doug and Carley will hold up the defenses while you get into place!"

A loud crunch could be heard from the door, "Shit!" Doug shouted throwing himself against it, Carley doing the same as the undead tried to break it down. "This won't last long, get moving now!"

Chris threw his shoulder into the double doors as the pounding grew in intensity. The snarls and groans from the walkers outside becoming a loud chorus as they continued their assault on the splintering entrance.

"Hey, Chris...I just wanted to let you know, if we don't make it through this. I think you're a great guy." Doug said as the doors shook violently.

"Shut the fuck up, Doug! We WILL make it! So stop talking like it's already over!" the fighter shouted back as the door was hit even harder.

Carley strained against the frame, "Doug, if we don't survive. I just thought that you should know-" she was cut off when the doors were shoved open wide enough for a walker to reach its arm inside. Chris brought his arm up, the walker's teeth latching onto the magazine wrapped around his forearm and digging into the pages but not reaching his flesh as he pulled his gun out and shot it in the head.

The body pitched back and knocked a couple of others over and allowing them to slam the doors shut again.

Bracing back against it, the fighter saw Clementine looking on with an expression of terror. "Clem! Try to find something to help us brace the door shut! Hurry!"

"Okay!" the girl shouted as she started running around the store to look for something. One of the shelves leaning against the windows on the left of the entrance knocked over and walkers began tripping into the store.

Carley jumped back, drawing her gun and putting a round through the foreheads of two walkers that came after Doug.

"Carley, keep them off us!" Chris shouted as he and the other man continued to try and keep the entrance sealed. The doors opened again and they forced it shut while hearing the reporter's gun register again and again. "Clementine! Did you find anything?!"

The girl kept looking frantically, "No! Nothing! Oh wait!" she ran toward the office as the window on the opposite side of the store shattered, multiple arms reaching through as the boards started coming loose.

"That window's screwed!" Doug shouted.

"Go! I got this!" Chris said putting more strength into the doors, digging his heels when his feet started sliding on the floor. "FuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUCCCCCKKKK!" He strained as the horde continued to push into the barrier between them.

"I found something!" Clementine shouted, running over with the cane they had found in the office earlier. Her guardian grabbed it and slipped it behind him through the door handles, the hard wood of the cane successfully baring the doors and keeping the walkers at bay.

"AH! FUCK!" Doug shouted as the arms reaching around the boarded window and grabbed on to him.

"SHIT! I'M OUT! I'M OUT!" Carley screamed next, a walker on the floor grabbed her ankle. A second stumbling through the window and began to shuffle toward her.

Time slowed to a crawl as Chris looked between the two, Clementine in between them looking back and forth at they called out for help. His hand tightened on the grip of his gun, finger around the trigger as he sprung.

 _Bam!_ The undead grabbing at Carley's ankle fell over with a hole drilled through the side of its head. _Bam!_ A second shot followed making the other walker drop to the floor no longer moving.

With the reporter safe, the fighter ran over to Doug and grabbed him, attempting to pull him away from the decaying hands that was already holding him while using the butt of his gun to bash them off.

The sound of wood breaking and splintering was heard as the boards finally gave way, the walkers reaching in and grabbing their victim. "NO! GET THEM OFF ME!"

"DOUG HANG ON!" Chris shouted, grabbing the man's arms as the walkers began to pull him through the window. One of the creatures sinking its teeth into his neck and tearing a large chunk of flesh away, spilling blood down the his front as another grabbed his arm and tore into it as well.

Clementine's terrified scream barely registered as the fighter watched the man be pulled outside. Screaming and begging as the undead pulled him to the ground and began tearing into his body like rabid animals.

"Oh my god..." Carley said horrified, covering her mouth before reloading her weapon and firing on more walkers that poured into the store.

The office door burst open, Kenny standing on the threshold axe in hand. "Let's GO!" he shouted to them as more windows and boards began shattering around them. The cane holding the doors closed finally gave and the horde outside started to flood into the store front.

Clementine yelped loudly as a walker laying prone on the floor reached out to grab her, causing her to trip as it continued to crawl after her. A gunshot from the fighter's weapon stopped it dead before it could get after his charge any more.

"CARLEY! GRAB CLEMENTINE AND GO, I'll COVER YOU!" Chris called out, firing two more rounds into the crowd of walkers. The reporter shook out of her stupor of seeing the man that had saved her being devoured, grabbing the little girl by the hand and leading her toward the office where Larry stood holding the door open.

He fired the last two rounds in the Glock's clip, the slide locking back when it ran empty. The fighter spun on his heel and bolted for the exit-

Having no time to register the large fist coming for him before it connected with the side of his face and knocking him to the floor. His vision swam a moment as Larry glared down at him, "You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!" he bellowed before disappearing into the office and leaving the younger man to his fate.

Chris rolled over to his side, face burning and vision still a bit blurred as a walker reached out and grabbed him. He forced his arm up, using his makeshift armor to take the bite that was aimed for his neck. Rotten teeth digging through the pages, some of them breaking off as the monster continued to try and tear through it to reach his skin.

The rest of the horde continued to close in, the chances of escape looking slimmer by the second as the fighter tried to hold off the one still gnawing on his covered arm.

There was a flash of red as a familiar axe burrowed into the skull of the walker and stopping it cold. Looking up, Chris saw Kenny standing over him, holding his free hand out to him. "I'm not letting somebody else get eaten today. Especially a good friend." Their hands clasped, the fisherman pulling him to his feet as they ran into the office. Slamming the door behind them and throwing the nearby furniture in front of it before bolting out of the exit.

Throwing himself in the bed of the truck that was right outside the door, Chris found himself wrapped in a familiar set of small arms as Clementine burrowed into his chest. Kenny leapt into the driver's seat, engine already running as he gunned it, the truck peeling out of the alley and shooting down the street with Glenn's car right on its back bumper.

Both vehicles escaping the undead and leaving Macon in their dust.

X

The Traveler's Motel was just as silent as it was before. There weren't any new walkers other than the ones that had been killed before when the now larger group pulled up.

Both vehicles pulled up into different spaces and shut off. Everyone taking a moment to breathe with the realization that they had survived...but not without a cost since they were one person short.

Climbing out of Kenny's truck bed, Chris stretched his legs before helping Clementine down. It was then he noticed Larry getting out the backseat of Glenn's car. His vision tinted red, his teeth gritted as he stormed toward the older man with his fists clenched tightly at his sides.

"Hey Chris, what's-" the fighter brushed past Glenn who had tried to speak to him as he walked right up to Larry, who had his back turned, and tapped him hard in the shoulder.

"The fuck you wa-" the man froze when he found an irate Chris standing there.

 _Crack!_ His back hit the side of the car when the younger man's fist connected with his nose breaking on impact. A second punch connected with his cheek and was followed by several others as Chris began beating the living hell out of Larry.

"What the fuck?! STOP!" Lily screamed, grabbing at Chris' arm only for him to shove her back and glare at her.

"THAT MOTHERFUCKER LEFT ME FOR DEAD!" he roared, making everyone jump. "I put my neck on the line, ALL OF US put our necks on the line to save his ass! Doug fucking died just so we could help him! And he punches me in the face and leaves me for the fucking walkers!"

Chris looked down at the brusied and bleeding Larry who was on his back on the ground holding his face. "I don't need a gun to kill you." he said lowly, pressing the heel of his boot into the man's throat, "You threatened to kill a child, then tried to kill me. As far as I'm concerned, you're a liability to this group that needs to be dealt with..."

Lily went to intercept, but Kenny grabbed her from behind and held her in place, forcing her to struggle. More than willing to let his friend go through with the deed after what happened with Duck before.

"Chris..." a small voice spoke out. All eyes turned to Clementine who was looking at her guardian with tears in her eyes. "Please...stop."

The fighter felt the anger drain out of him seeing her broken expression. Looking down at Larry who was looking back, gasping air through his constricted windpipe with his eyes wide with fear.

Lifting his boot off the man's neck, Chris walked toward his charge and knelt down infront of her. The girl sniffled before hugging him, "Larry's mean...but your better than him. Please don't be mean." she whimpered into his

"I'm sorry, Clem." Chris said as he leaned back from he embrace so he could look her in the eye. "I didn't mean to scare you like that. When it comes to keeping you safe, I might have to do a few 'mean' things here and there so that nothing bad happens. Even if that means hurting people who are 'mean' to make sure they don't hurt anyone else."

He sent a glare at Larry while his daughter helped him up. "I will never hurt you, sweetheart." he said looking back at Clementine and holding his hands up for her to see, "And these hands will never hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it."

"Promise?" asked Clementine.

Chris smiled and held out his pinky, like he had back at the pharmace, "I promise."

X

An hour later, the group had managed to set up shop at the motor inn.

Lily grunted softly as she tossed another corpse on top of the pile they had going, wiping her hands off on her jeans with a look of disgust. Clementine having watched her with and unreadable expression before heading over to the back end of the RV with Duck following after her.

Everyone else was spread around, either checking supplies or gaining their second wind after their harrowing escape. Chris stood at the entrance to the parking lot, looking farther up the darkened street as the sounds of gunfire and screaming echoed through the night.

His face still ached a bit, a dark-purple and black bruise already forming where Larry had punched him. But it didn't bother him, given his training and past matches back home he was used to this.

Facing the parking lot, he turned to Glenn who was standing by his car looking at the ground in deep thought. "You okay, Glenn?" he asked making the other man look up.

He held up his hand as he listened to the car radio talking about the situation happening back in Atlanta. Saying that the city was now considered a 'Stage 9 Catastrophe' and wasn't looking to be getting any better. "I think I better go..." he said partially to himself.

Those that had heard him looked in his direction. "To Atlanta?" asked the fighter to be sure that he heard right.

"Yeah." he replied with a nod. "I got friends there, and I just can't stay here knowing that they could be trapped in that city. I...I just gotta take my chances."

Chris sighed, looking over to Lily who was about to say something. He shook his head making her pause and glare at him before heading off to check on her father who was still nursing the many bruises the fighter had given him.

"Do what you can. Find your friends. But keep your eyes open and stay out of trouble." Chris said to the delivery man.

Glenn smiled at him, "Thanks Chris, that means a lot. I don't mean to abandon you all, but this seems like an okay setup, and I'm sure things will be back to normal around here in no time."

The fighter couldn't find it in him to agree with his statement, but nodded regardless. "Here's to hoping."

"Stay safe," Glenn sat in the driver's seat and paused, "And Chris, you know, if this really doesn't get better, people ARE going to give up...like that girl from upstairs." he looked up at Chriswho stood motionless, "Are you just going to let them? You gave her the gun."

"I did, and that's my choice to bare, Glenn." the fighter said solumnly. "There's nothing fair about this whole situation, the only thing we can do is what we can to survive and keep what's left of our humanity in tact. But with how things can get, that'll be easier said than done."

"Maybe you're right." the other man said thinking to himself. He looked back up at Chris and nodded to him, "Good luck, seeya around." he closed the door and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot and heading into the darkness.

Watching the tail-lights until they disappeared, the fighter headed back into the parking lot where the others were still taking stock.

"Close call back there, friend." Kenny said turning to him, looking at the shiner under the younger man's eye. "How's that feelin'?"

"I've had worse, trust me on that." the fighter replied. "Thanks for coming back for me, I owe you one."

The fisherman shook his head, "Naw, you don't. After everything you've done for us. And you were right before, we have to stick together and take care of each other out here." He looked over at Clementine and Duck, his son talking up a storm while the little girl just looked down at her shoes. "You know, there's a lot out there that could mess up a girl like her." he turned back to Chris and smiled, "But, I figured with someone like you looking after her, and her looking after herself. You two have nothing to worry about.

The fighter smiled back and patted his shoulder, "Thanks, Ken."

Kenny grinned, "You got it, Chris." He went back to checking the supplies they had managed to gather leaving the younger man to keep checking on everyone. He looked Carley's way as the reporter dug through a box on a table they had set up off to the side.

Feeling sympathy over what happened back at the store, he headed over that way to speak with her.

"How you holding up?" the reporter looked up at Chris, her face a mask of exhaustion and numbness.

"I'm okay, considering..." she trailed off, looking to the side and not meeting his gaze.

He nodded, "Yeah, I can understand that."

Carley looked into his face, "I can't stop thinking about what happened back there, with Doug. We couldn't have saved him...could we?" she asked as though the answer were an easy one.

The fighter blew out a slow breath through his nose. "Everything happened too fast back at the drug store. And as hard as it is to say, we can't change what has happened. All we can do is focus on what could happen next."

"I know it's stupid...we'd just met...and he was such a..." she couldn't seem to find the words to convey her thoughts. "It's just that...I think that I liked him." she finally admitted, a light dusting of her cheeks proving her statement.

Smiling, Chris answered back honestly, "I'm pretty sure that he felt the same, Carley. He was a good man, and was brave right up to the end. You should be proud of that."

She nodded in agreement, "Thanks, that does help...a little bit. But I think I just wanna be alone right now." she turned back to her task. The fighter decided to respect her wishes and began to make his way over to Clementine to check on her as well. "Wait." He stopped and turned back to Carley who was looking at him with an imploring expression.

"Yeah?" he asked wondering what was on her mind.

"How did you choose? We both needed you...and you picked me first."

He was silent for a couple of seconds, it was something he didn't really have an answer to. "I...just reacted. I would have saved you both if I could, but the odds were against me. Call it instinct, call it a spur of the moment thing, no matter how you look at it, I did what I could with what I was given at the time."

Carley nodded slowly, "I just wish that we both could have made it..."

"Me too." Chris turned and began to walk away, the reporter looking after him with a heavy heart. The amount of pressure that he had taken on in only a couple of hours was more than what most men could have been able to take. And yet he kept pushing forward no matter what, and she found that very admirable despite what has happened.

Pushing down the hard feeling in his gut, the fighter continued on his intended path toward his charge. After everything that had happened he needed to make sure that she was okay considering what she had seen when the store became overrun. He couldn't even to begin to imagine what she was feeling at this point, but it was his responsibility to make sure that she was, at the very least, okay.

Shaking his head, the fighter continued his trek over to where his charge was listening to Duck continue to ramble on. "Hey Duck, take a break and hang out with your folks a minute so I can talk to Clementine." he said to the boy who nodded and headed off to be with his parents so the two could talk.

Chris kneeled down to his charge's level as she continued to look at the ground. "Hey, sweetheart. How you holding up?" he asked gently.

"I'm okay...I almost got grabbed again though." she replied finally looking up at him. "I...I tripped, and my walkie-talkie broke. Glenn still has the other one."

The fighter felt sad for her, "I'm sorry, Clem."

"Thanks. I know I need to be tough, I'm just sad." his charge said back as her lips quivered and her eyes watered. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but it's how I used to talk to my mom and dad. And now they're gone. It's gone."

A pair of strong, warm arms pulled her into her guardian's chest. Holding her close as he ran his hand through her curly hair. "Shh, it's okay baby-girl. I'll help you find another one sometime soon, okay?"

She nodded, hands still fisting his shirt, "I'll just hold on to the one I have for now, to remind me." Chris continued to console her when he heard his name being called, looking up to see Lilly motioning him over.

"Let me go talk to Lily real quick alright, I'll be right back." he said letting her go and seeing what the woman wanted.

"What's up?" he asked when they were out of earshot, not missing the not-so-subtle leer Larry was sending his way.

Lily brushed a bit of hair behind her ear, "I'm sorry for what dad did. He would be dead if it weren't for you. A lot of us would be." she admitted.

"Maybe, but one of us didn't make it." he said thinking about Doug's last moments. "And the old man flying off the handle like that isn't good for anyone...though, I will admit that I went a little too far before. But that doesn't mean it won't happen again if he pulls his shit a second time. The lives of everyone are important, and I won't take him threatening those lives lightly."

"I get it, really. And I'll take responsibility and make sure he doesn't act like that again," she said putting a hand on his arm. "We're lucky to have you here. You knew nothing about us, but was willing to help anyway. I can't thank you enough for that."

Chris smiled back at her just as a couple of loud explosions could be heard somewhere in the distance catching the attention of everyone.

"I hope that's the sound of us winning this thing." Kenny said approaching the other two.

"Me too." said Lily, hoping.

The fisherman looked around them, "You know, this motor inn's pretty defendable. We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch and we can stay here until the military rolls through." he said as they approached one of the exits and looked out into the night.

Lily nodded, "I actually agree with that plan."

"Same here. Better than being out in the open where we can get picked off." added Chris.

They looked down the street, still illuminated by the street lamps as Kenny spoke again. "We've got beds, we've got water and most importantly, we've got light. There are worse places to call home."

"Yeah. You're right." Lily agreed. "You know guys, I think it's going to be alright."

Not a second later, the street lights started going out one at a time. Followed swiftly by the ones around the motor inn. Clementine ran through the parking lot and clung to Chris' side as the last of the lights went out and they were all plunged into darkness.

 _ **A/N: Famous last words. There is no such thing as 'alright' in the ass-end of the apocalypse. But how will the end of the world handle a variable in the form of a sudden dimension-hopper who knows how to handle himself?**_

 _ **On a very strong roll here guys, review at your leisure and a new update will be here in no time.**_


	5. Starved for Help

_**A/N: Well...after getting through the snow storm from hell that ripped its way through the East yesterday. And with schools, jobs and whole roads getting shutdown, I found myself with a good amount of time on my hands for the last 24 hours. And what better way to put it to some good use than getting the next couple of chapters ready to go.**_

 _ **So here is the first of several.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead.**_

The cool autumn air breezed through the forest, the once vibrant-green trees and foliage now either completely bare of leaves or shrouded in various arrays of orange, red and yellow with the changing of the season.

Amongst the remaining brush, a lone walker sat hunched over the corpse of a small, woodland creature. Grey, decaying fingers ripping into the tiny, furry body and pulling out the poor creature's insides before bringing it towards its awaiting mouth.

A twig snapped behind it making it pause in mid-bite, groaning in the back of its throat as it turned to look over its shoulder to see what was behind it only for an arrowhead to burst out the back of its skull.

The body flopped forward while the one that had fired the shot lowered the compound bow in his hands.

Chris Lachance had changed in the last few four months since arriving in this universe. The harsh and cruel world filled with the living dead had hardened him to the horrors that surrounded him on a regular basis, allowing him to put aside his emotions and make harsh decisions when they needed to be made.

He'd also changed physically. His frame had a bit more muscle packed on to it then it had before. His hair had grown out, still very short but much shaggier than before, his facial hair had also grown a bit giving him a slight five o'clock shadow.

The fighter's attire had also taken a drastic change as well. He wore a pair of cargo jeans with black knee-pads and shin guards stitched into the legs, a long-sleeve black under-armor shirt underneath a denim jacket with elbow-pads stitched into the arms. The forearms having black duct tape wrapped around them incase a walker attempted to bite him.

It was what he refered to as 'walker-armor' and only wore it when he left their little haven back at the motor inn and hadn't let him down so far. The multiple teeth marks already in the tape being proof that no undead had succeeded in getting to his flesh so far.

Exhaling, Chris approached his latest kill, adjusting the backpack he had on as he flipped the walker over, braced his foot on its collarbone and pulled the arrow free. Shaking the rotten blood and flesh from it before slipping the bolt into the quiver on the side of the weapon.

Turning toward what the walker was feasting on, he approached the small corpse just as another individual holding a hunting rifle came out of the woods toward him. An older man with slicked black hair and glasses wearing a black button shirt with a name patch reading 'Mark' over a white t-shirt and black jeans stepped up beside him and looked down at the unfortunate creature.

"Dammit. What'd they get this time?" the man asked.

Chris kneeled down and looked it over, shaking his head. "I think it _was_ a rabbit. Fuck! Another meal gone." he cursed before getting back up and flexing his fingers in the black MMA gloves he was wearing on his hands.

Something he had picked up on one of his last trips through town on a supply run and going through a sporting goods store on the way out. He'd upgraded them to help him even more when he was out and about.

Having removed most of the knuckle padding and inserting two half-pound metal plates, sealing them up with a strip of duct tape, they made every punch he threw multiple times more powerful and damaging. And after testing it out, was extremely effective in close-quarters.

"Still managed to score a couple other rabbits and a few squirrels, so we at least have something to hold us over for the time being." said Chris, patting the strap to his backpack.

Mark sighed, "I can't believe that we went through all that commissary food in 3 months. It seemed like so much at the time."

"It at least got us this far. If it wasn't for you opening the door that day, we'd all be nothing but bones right now." said the fighter keeping his eyes trained on to the nearby trees incase they had company.

The other man nodded, "Yeah, I'd probably BE food by now if you guys didn't invite me in. Definitely have no regrets about sharing what I had stocked up on. But now that we're down to just the bare minimum..." he trailed off.

"We'll make it, Mark." Chris said seriously. "We just gotta make due with what we have for the time being. I never thought I'd actually get a taste for squirrel, kinda tastes like a crossbreed of ham and chicken."

"I hear you. You're pretty damn good with that bow, definitely saves us on ammo." Mark said back. as they continued their trek. "With what we got today, how much food do you think we got left?"

"Enough to hold us over for another week...or less depending on how we ration it." replied the fighter with a shrug. "I can't say for sure."

They reached the top of a small hill and looked around for anything that could be considered a meal. But nothing moved, there weren't even any sounds from animals that would usually move about the forest.

Apparently mother nature knew to avoid the walkers as well.

"You know, between the lack of food, and Kenny and Lily at each others throats all the time, things are getting pretty tense back at the motor inn." Mark looked over at Chris, "You know, Kenny's been talking about taking off if he can get that RV running."

"I know," Chris replied with a serious expression, "I've been helping him fix it. Clem and I are heading out with him and his family when we get the chance." This got him a shocked look from the other man.

"You can't be serious...Chris, we're all safer in a bigger group. Going out on your own like that could get you all killed."

The fighter turned his gaze on him, "Staying in one place for too long when nearly all the resources have dried up isn't much better. That, and it's only a matter of time before the walkers start pounding on our boarders in large numbers. Can't fight a horde when your starved and running low on ammo, Mark."

The man sighed after a few moments, "Can't really blame you with that logic. Well, that and Larry constantly causing trouble." He smirked as he looked at the younger man again. "Can't believe you knocked out two of his teeth two weeks ago, that was really something."

It was true, at the time the situation with the food had really caused a lot of stress in their group. After the kids were put to bed they had all gathered in the now fenced in parking lot to talk about what kind of action to take.

Lily wanted to ration everything they had, selectively choosing who would get food at certain points while Kenny thought that it would be best to not let anyone starve.

The whole thing snowballed out of control and started a huge blow up between the two like so many incidents before it. Larry stepped in after too long, standing in his daughter's corner but ultimately proving that he had little to no tact for such affairs. Bellowing about how Lily was doing the decision making and that they should all fall in line.

Kenny didn't like that and fought back which resulted in the old veteran punching him in the jaw and knocking him to the ground. That was when Chris stepped in:

 _X Flashback X_

 _"If that's all you got packing you old fucker, then you're in a world of trouble!" Kenny shouted, getting to his feet and wiping the small amount of blood from his lip. Katjaa at his side trying to calm him down but he just glared at Larry who was cracking his knuckles._

 _"You and what gay-pride parade you fucking redneck? My daughter's doing what's best for this group. If you don't like it, then take your woman and your fucking brat and take off!" he bellowed just as Chris stepped out of the room he shared with Clementine on the second floor._

 _Making sure that the girl was asleep in her own bed before closing the door behind him and heading down to the parking lot before things got more out of hand. Going past Mark and Carley as they stood off to the side._

 _"Dad! That's enough!" Lily demanded._

 _"Stay out of it Lily!" Larry snapped before turning back to Kenny. "Well asshole? You gonna backup those words or are you going to puss out because your woman's standing there?" He felt someone shove his shoulder and he whirled around in time for a fist to connect hard against his face and knocking him to the ground._

 _Looking up hatefully to see Chris standing over him with his fists clenched. "You son of a-" he lunged at the younger man only for him to dodge around his grasp, bringing his knee hard into his gut and grabbing his outstretched arm._

 _The fighter twisted the limb behind the man's back and slammed his head hard into the asphalt as he pressed his heel down on the back of his neck._

 _"I. Warned. You." he hissed between clenched teeth before glaring in Lily's direction. "Keep this fucker on a tighter leash, Lily. Or I swear I'll put him down and toss his corpse over the wall. I understand that our rations are running low and we have to preserve what we got, but you forget that there are NINE of us including TWO children. There's gonna be friction and stress and we need to deal with this before it tears us apart."_

 _"If it comes down to it I'll gladly give up my share to make sure that Clementine is fed and I can guarantee that Kenny would do the same for Duck and Katjaa. We need to put our heads together to figure this out instead of this constant bitching."_

 _Larry struggled and he pressed his heel down a little harder making him grunt. "And THIS asshole isn't making things any better! Just because you THINK you're entitled to anything because Lily's making a couple decisions around here don't mean jack shit. You keep pushing everyone like this, then everyone will turn on you and when that happens you'll have nothing left."_

 _He released the man and stepped back, allowing him to spit out a glob of blood on to the black-top that had two small teeth in it. "I'm sick of being referee every time you guys get in a fucking pissing match. Figure it out, fix the problem, and straighten the fuck out! Or we'll all regret it in the end." Without another word he spun on his heel and stormed toward the stairs._

 _"Where are you going?" Lily called after him while her father picked himself off the ground._

 _"To bed, I'm going on a supply run tomorrow to look for hunting equipment. Carley, wanna tag along?" The reporter nodded at him as he went back to the upper balcony and disappeared into his and Clementine's room. Flopping himself on his bed next to the one his charge occupied and staring at the ceiling until exhaustion finally took him._

 _X Flashback End X_

"Larry's got a temper that will eventually lead to a problem if he doesn't get his act together. I don't feel right about cleaning his damn clock every time he tries to hurt someone else, violence isn't always an answer." Chris admitted as they started moving again. "He keeps it up, well, then I'll have to resort to something else..."

"If he put even half that energy toward finding more food, instead of being so hostile, we'd be better off by now." said Mark. Pausing as he watched a crow fly over head and land on a tree branch a couple of meters away. "I know Lily thinks he's getting weaker, but he's all muscle. He's practically a walking piledriver."

 _"With a glass jaw."_ the fighter thought with a slight smirk as they began to stalk slowly toward the bird had perched itself. They kneeled down behind a rock while Mark took aim with the rifle only for Chris to reach out and lower the barrel.

Raising his bow, the fighter drew the string back. Using the sight built into the side to gauge the distance before letting the arrow fly.

The crow fell to the ground, the arrow pierced right through its middle. "Man, you gotta teach me how to shoot with that." said Mark as Chris walked up and collected their newest catch.

A loud yell echoed through the forest causing both men to snap their attention to the West. "Shit! was that Kenny?!" Mark said jumping to his feet.

The fighter was already on his feet and running in the direction the sound had come from, the other man trailing behind him, trying to keep up as the trees blurred past them. Heart hammering in his chest as he wondered if what they had heard was from their friend and if he was in trouble or not.

Bow clutched tightly in his hands, fresh arrow already nocked, he pumped his legs for a while before he slid to a stop and listened as another shout of pain pierced the air. This time much closer as they ran to the right, in the general direction of where it had originated.

They found the source a moment later, in the form of two teenage boys wearing white and blue Letterman's jackets with 'S.M.' imprinted on them kneeling by an older man wearing a similar outfit with his leg enclosed in a bear-trap, blood already pooling on the dirt below as he whimpered feebly.

One of the boys tied a belt tightly around the trapped man's leg to slow the bleeding as the other two approached. "Jesus Christ..." Mark muttered in slight shock.

"Oh shit!" one of the kids yelled, standing and holding his arms up next to his friend. "No...please don't kill us! We just want to help our teacher! We'll leave, I swear!" he pleaded.

Running footsteps could be heard as Kenny ran into the clearing. "Chris! Is everything okay?" he looked down at the scene before them and grimaced. "Shit."

"Get it off! Get it off, god dammit, get it off me!" the man begged while holding his wounded leg.

"Travis! Maybe these guys can help!" one of the boys said to the other.

"These might be the same guys that raided out camp and...We barely got away from that!" said Travis not taking his eyes off the other group.

"What guys? Why the fuck is there a bear-trap out here?!" Kenny wondered as Chris stepped forward.

"Look, we didn't attack you guys. But we need to find a way to get him out before it attracts..." he looked past the boys and gnashed his teeth. "Fuck."

Walkers had obviously heard the man's cries of agony and were beginning to amble into the other side of the clearing. "Dammit! Do what you can, I'll cover you!" Kenny called out bringing his own rifle to eye level.

Mark was already on his knees looking over the trap when he looked up at Jason, "This trap's been altered. There's no release latch."

"Keep the boys back! I'll think of something." the fighter said looking the device over. The whole thing was made from low carbon steel, attached to a thick chain that was wrapped around a nearby tree. There was no possible way of cutting the chain, and Mark had been right about there not being a release latch on the trap itself.

Pulling out the knife he kept stored on his belt, he jammed the blade into the trap's hinge, putting all his weight into it to try and break it open while Kenny opened fire on the coming walkers with his rifle.

He grunted from the exertion, but no matter how much he put into it the thing wouldn't give an inch.

He tried it from the other side but had the same result, by this point Mark had also started shooting at the undead as they began to steadily grow in number. _"FUCK! Nothing's working! Can't break it open, can't cut the chain, we'd be dead before I even put a dent in the tree holding it. That only leaves..."_ he looked down at the man's bleeding leg, his blood running cold and his stomach dropping as he realized that there was only one way to get him out of this.

"Just get me out! Please!" the man shouted over the gunfire.

Chris slowly rose to his feet, slipping his knife back into it's scabbard before reaching back beside where his bow rested on the pack...pulling out the hatchet he carried for emergencies while he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.

The trapped man seemed to catch on as well as the blood drained from his face. "...oh...god...no..."

"I'm sorry." the fighter said sadly, "But it's the only way." He didn't give the man a chance to scream as he raised the small axe and brought it down blade-first on to the man's shin, slicing through flesh and cracking bone when it made contact.

The screams of pain stretched high above the trees making all in attendance, that was living anyway, to cringe harshly.

Bringing it up again, Chris swung down on to the limb even harder. Spraying blood and bone fragments from the stump he was creating onto his arms with a few drops hitting his face and making the man's cries even louder. Trying to push it all from his mind as he brought the weapon up a third time and swung it down, completely separating the bone and only leaving a patch of muscle and flesh keeping the leg together, a crimson river flowing freely from it.

One last swing and the leg came free, the man looked down in horror at his new stump before passing out from the pain and blood loss he had suffered. "He's free, come on!" he shouted, tossing his hatchet to Mark who caught it as he grabbed the unconscious man and slung him over his shoulders to carry him.

Travis retched on to a nearby bush from what he had witnessed, and because of this didn't see the female walker come up behind him. "KID LOOK OUT!" Kenny shouted. The teen spun only to be grabbed by the face.

"OH NOOOOO-GUGGGGGAAAAAAHHHHGGGGG!" The creature's rotten teeth sank into the flesh of his throat, crushing his wind pipe before tearing out as it brought him to the ground where three others piled on top and began tearing his body apart.

"TRAVIS NO!" The other boy screamed as he tried to go help him, being held back by Mark.

"THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO FOR HIM! MOVE!" Chris shouted as they all began running in the opposite direction, the pursuing walkers going for the much easier meal as the survivors ran through the forest back toward their haven.

X

The Traveler's Motel had taken on some serious renovations in the last few months.

A Strongly built fence constructed out of wooden boards and debris was lined up along the front with metal posts and barbed wire stretching along between them. The two cars that had been in the parking lot when the survivors had moved in had been moved to the exits to make the openings smaller and were sealed off with heavy dumpsters so only the living could get in or out.

A couple of couches, chairs and tables were set up in the center near the RV that had its sun blind out. It was a lot of hard work setting up and maintaining their small stronghold, but it was worth it in the end for them to have a safe place to stay all this time.

Currently, the survivors were spread out on the property doing a number of things. Larry was using a rock as he hammered a couple of new boards on to the fence. Katjaa was keeping an eye on the kids. Duck drawing on a large piece of wood laid out on the ground happily. Clementine kicking a soccer ball aimlessly against an empty barrel, her baseball cap missing from its place on the top of her head as she continued about her business.

Carley was sprawled out on the couch close to the RV, arm draped over her eyes as she tried to catch some sleep after her shift of keeping watch the night before. And Lily was perched upon the RV's roof, rifle in hand as she surveyed everything around her for hostility. Gaze occasionally going to the people below that were her responsibility to look out for and smiling down at her father as he took a break from his task.

The stress of their supplies running out had been taxing, she really wished that things could be different, but until they got their hands on another supply of food it was going to be hard on everyone. That, and a recent check of the well that connected to the motor inn proved that their water reserves would start to run out soon.

With winter coming, all of them dressed for the occasion in one fashion or another...and things were only going to get worse if a little luck didn't come their way soon.

The sound of a twig breaking in the nearby forest made her snap to attention, rifle pressed to her shoulder and eyes down the sights as she surveyed the treeline. Slowing her breathing, the only sound being the wind around her and Clementine's ball hitting the metal barrel below, she strained her ears to pick up any more noise.

More rustling, and it was growing closer.

Lily whistled, her signal for everyone to be on alert which got everyone in motion. Dropping into cover immediately as she waited for whatever was making the disturbance showed themselves.

A moment later, Chris came shuffling out of the forest. An unconcious man with a bleeding stump for a foot slung over his shoulders while Kenny, Mark and a teenage boy came out behind him. "Get the gates open! We got a man down!" He called up to her after taking several deep breaths from his hike with the extra weight.

"Shit! What the hell are they doing?" the woman wondered as Mark helped move the dumpster they used as their 'gate' out of the way, Kenny standing guard while Carley and Katjaa helped the fighter move the man on to the property and lay him in the back of the pick up that they had left where it had been.

Everyone was talking at once, making it hard to understand what any of them were saying as Katjaa began to look over the wounded individual. "Kat, do you think you can fix him?" asked Kenny after they had put the gate back in place.

"Jesus, Ken! I...I don't know!" she exclaimed while trying to access the grevious injury.

"Chris! What the fuck! You can't just be bringing new people here! What are you thinking?!" Lily demanded as the fighter leaned against the truck to catch his breath, Clementine right next to him checking to see if he was okay.

"Hey! You wanna calm down for a fucking minute!" Kenny shouted right back.

"No, I don't! I want to know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea!?" the woman exclaimed, turning her attention to the fighter as he stood back upright again.

"I took his fucking leg to save his life!" he said frustrated at the situation. "Another kid that was with him was killed before we could get out, I was THINKING about making sure other people lived!"

Larry scoffed, "Well that was a stupid thing to do!"

"We are NOT responsible for every struggling survivor we come across!" Lily shouted, pointing a finger in Chris' face. "WE have to focus on OUR group! Right here! Right now!"

Carley was about to say something when Chris got right in the other woman's face, "Is that a fact? What about with what happened to YOUR DAD back at the pharmacy?! I could have just walked away! Focused on MY GROUP and left him to fucking die on the floor from his bad heart! Instead I stepped up and did what I could to get him his pills, and how was I thanked? THE MOTHERFUCKER PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE AND LEFT ME FOR DEAD!"

A chilled silence blew through the group then, Lily's eyes were wide and she leaned back from the fighter as his glared burned through her. "Don't fucking stand there all high and mighty, because I don't see YOU out there risking your fucking neck on hunting and food runs like the rest of us. And I will knock more of your fucking teeth out if you take another step old man." His glare turned on Larry who had taken a couple of steps toward him with clenched fists, freezing on the spot as memories of their last confrontation coming to mind.

The teen, Ben, looked to be getting really uncomfortable with what was going on. Trying his best to make himself as small as possible when he felt a small hand tugging on his. Looking down at Clementine, she started leading him away from the confrontation. "Come over here and see what I drew." she said softly.

"What? No, I..." he tried but eventually allowed the girl to lead him from the rest of the group.

"You know, you like to think you are the leader of this little group, but we can make our own goddamn decisions! This isn't your own personal dictatorship!" Kenny said stepping in. "And Chris' right, it was different when it was YOUR DAD, but when it's someone else we just fuck 'em?"

"Come on, you're being dramatic!" Carley stated garnering their attention. "Everything always turns into a power struggle between you two. I'm not gonna be a part of that." with that being said she stomped off leaving the rest of them.

Lily turned back to Kenny, "Hey, I didn't ask to lead this group! Everyone was happy to have me distributing the food when there was enough to go around, but not that it's running out, suddenly I'm a goddamn Nazi!"

"ENOUGH!" Chris roared, his voice echoing off the walls around them. "Jesus FUCKING Christ! Do I have to lock you two in the room and let you beat the shit out of each other! Carley's right, this goddamn power struggle you have going on has to end!"

He turned to Lily first, "Those guys are here now, there's no changing that. We let them stay long enough for that poor bastard to recover and we can send them on their way if we have too." he turned to Kenny, "Ken, thanks for stepping up like that. But don't let everything that happens lead to a fight between you guys. We need to stand united. If something happens and we're divided like this then we're fucked! Can either of you live with yourselves if someone died because neither of you could pull your head out of your asses?"

Silence was his answer. "I wasn't kidding last time this happened. Figure your fucking shit out and resolve the problem. We can't have this kind of stress affecting the group."

"I don't see any of you stepping up to make the hard decisions!" Larry bellowed. "My girl's got more balls than all of you combined!"

"Really?" the fighter said standing at his full height, "I see you eating alright, did you ever give up any meals in the last couple weeks so that your kid could eat?" at that moment a hunger pain ripped through his insides.

The last time food rations had been handed out he had given most of his share to Clementine so she could have a bigger meal. It wasn't easy, and he could feel himself getting a little weaker from the lack of sustenance, but it was worth it for his charge's well being.

Larry leveled a harsh glare at him before spinning around and stomping off toward where Mark was now working on the fence. Kenny too that as the sign to leave as well leaving the fighter and Lily alone.

"You think this is so easy for me?" she asked, "Everyone's starting to hate me because I'M the one that rations the food. But NOBODY else wants to."

Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair as he calmed himself down, "Lily, I get how that can be a strain on anyone. I never said that it was easy for you, infact I'm pretty sure I'd make similar choices in your situation. But getting in people's faces like that is a sure-fire way to get the people around you to turn on you."

He slipped off his backpack and handed it to her, "I managed to catch some small game out there. It might not be much, but it should get us through the next day or two."

Lily looked relieved as she took the bag, "You're a godsend. I'll get these skinned and prepped before they spoil. At least we don't have to worry about someone going without tonight."

She walked off to prepare the groups food, Chris watched her go a moment before taking out his bow and setting it down on a nearby table. Turning toward Katjaa as she worked on the wounded man. "Kat, is he going to be okay?" he asked as blood began dripping out of the truck's bed and on to the asphalt.

"I don't know, give me a hand for a second." she replied as he moved up to stand by her. "Apply pressure here while I try and close this." she pointed out while she worked on stitching what she could of the man's bleeding stump. The fighter put both his hands down on the leg and applied as much pressure as he could to stop the flow while she worked.

A second or two passed between them before the woman spoke again. "You know, I thought I was starting to get used to this...sewing people's injuries..." she looked his way. "How's your arm, by the way?"

Chris rolled his left shoulder, the stitches that had been in his left-bicep having been long removed after an accident during a food run over a month ago. "Was always told scars were cool." he admitted getting a light laugh out of Katjaa that quickly stopped as soon as it started.

"Cuts and bruises are one thing, but, Chris, this man has no leg!" she looked at her hands a moment, both of them coated in blood as she continued to work as best she could.

"I know I did the right thing, Kat." he said with a slight nod.

She nodded in return, "I know you did. The right thing is scary sometimes I guess." after another few seconds she turned to him again. "Well, you've done what you can. Thanks for the help."

"Do your best, that's all anyone can ask." he said before heading toward the spot where the kids were gathered to check on Clementine.

X

The dull hum of the light above the sink echoed through he small bathroom. Standing over it naked from the waist up, Chris soaked a washcloth under the very small stream of water coming from the faucet before wiping the stray pieces of dirt, blood and grime from his face and chest.

With the water running out, showers were no longer an option for the time being and they had to make due with what they had.

After removing the last traces, he took a long look in the mirror. His face had hard-lines running along it. Dark circles forming under his eyes from lack of sleep in the last couple of days, his frame was still muscled, but had lost a small amount of fat from missing a few meals. His tired eyes looked to his arm, the same one Katjaa had mentioned earlier.

A long, jagged pink line ran from the top of his shoulder to the center of his bicep, a bi-product of what had happened during a trip back to Macon.

It had been him, Mark and Carley at the time to see if they could find anything left they could use. They'd been cornered in a small store by walkers and had no way out. With no other means of escape and time running out, the fighter made the rash decision to throw himself through a lightly boarded window, a large chunk of glass slicing his arm open but giving them a chance to get away.

It hurt like a bitch, but it had been worth it as they returned to the motor inn that night. Katjaa was able to stitch him up no problem, not bad for someone who was a veteranarian before the world went to hell.

Finishing in the bathroom, he entered his and Clementine's shared room. Grabbing his shirt from the bed and pulling it on, leaving his jacket on the coat-hook on the back of the bathroom door, he began making his way to the door leading out.

Stopping to look about the room he shared with his charge, he found a few odds and ends he had managed to bring back for her scattered on her side. The picture of her folks laid on the bedside table along with the broken walkie-talkie she couldn't do away with.

There were a couple of books he'd brought back for her from supply runs, along with paper, pencils and crayons. He'd also managed to find several education books for her and Duck to use so they they could keep learning. Kayjaa had been very thankful about that.

Chris noticed once again that something was missing, lately that Clementine wasn't wearing her favorite hat. When he asked her about it she had told him that it had gone missing days ago. Thinking that she may have just misplaced it somewhere on the property, he promised to help her find it when he had a chance.

Opening the door to the room, the fighter nearly ran right into Kenny who stood their with his hand raised, ready to knock. "Oh, hey man." he said stepping back as the younger man came out, closing the door behind him.

"Something wrong, Ken?" Chris asked a bit curious.

The fisherman waved him off, "I just came up here to talk with you about a couple of things."

Leaning against the railing and looking over the motel, Chris nodded. "Shoot."

"The RV's almost fixed, all that work you and I have been pouring into it has done some good. Soon as we find a working carborator and a new timing belt we can go." said Kenny. "And I was serious before about the offer for you and Clem to come with us. You've more than earned a ride with me and my family."

"Thanks man. With how things are going, we might need to pack up and go." said the fighter. He didn't want to leave this haven and expose Clementine to the dangers of being out in the open. But if they ran out of supplies and fresh water it would just mean another death sentence. "What else was on your mind?"

Kenny took a moment to think before leaning on the railing next to him, "You were right before. About me and Lily fighting all the time, it's not good to have that kind of friction around here. But it's hard to come up with any good ideas when we're already divided like this. We need someone that just thinks of what's best for everyone and isn't afraid to stick their neck out to do what's right."

Chris snorted, "Good luck with that, Ken. Every choice made will have consequences, no matter your intentions. I can understand your point of view a lot of the time, but I can also tell where Lily's coming from. One of the reasons why I don't pick a side most of the time."

The fisherman sighed, "You know, shit would be a lot easier if you were leader." the younger man gave him a weird look. "I'm serious. Ever since we met up at Hershel's farm you've had this way about you. You know how to fight the walkers, you can plan out an escape and a strategy on the fly, hell, you even make decisions that most folks would never consider. It's almost like you've had experience with all this before."

Feeling his stomach give a slight lurch that wasn't caused by hunger, the fighter did his best to shrug off the man's comment. "With things as tense as they are, I think attempting to throw me into the roll of leader would cause too much friction with some of us." he looked down at Lily and Larry to prove his point.

"Besides, I'm young. Who would take someone like me seriously?"

"Most of the folks here would be behind you." the older man said honestly. "Christ, Kat and I, Duck, Carley, even Mark would all follow your lead if you decided to do something about it. And you know Clementine would be with you no matter what."

Chris leaned off the railing, hearing something like that was hard to swallow. It was already a full time job keeping a look out for Clementine, but taking responsibility for the whole group? "I just don't know." he said shaking his head.

Kenny patted his shoulder, "Just think about it, friend." Both men perked up when Katjaa called out to them, the front of her clothes covered in blood and looking a bit frantic.

Running down to the ground level, they approached the truck where the woman was looking at the man she had been trying to help with a solumn expression. "He didn't make it...did he?" asked Kenny already knowing the answer.

"He...lost too much blood." his wife admitted while facing them.

"God dammit!" Kenny muttered, "Getting sick of this shit!" he knocked a cluster of cans off a nearby table as he skulked off.

"Ken! Come back-" Chris stopped her from going after him.

"Let him cool off, Kat. It's been a pretty bad morning so far." the fighter said as the breeze around them started to kick up.

Katjaa sighed, "That man, I tried Chris. But he was never going to make it, he lost too much blood before you got him here and I couldn't stop the bleeding."

"You did your best, that's all that matters." said the younger man.

She looked over at Ben as he sat in one of the lawn chairs while the kids kept drawing. "What about him?" she wondered. The fighter opened his mouth to speak when he heard the truck creak, something moving in the bed that reached out for the woman's back.

"KATJAA!" He grabbed her and shoved her out of the way as two pale hands grabbed his forearms. The dead man was hissing and growling in his face, snapping his teeth in an attempt to get at his neck.

Chris gritted his teeth, smashing the walker's head into the side of the truck repeatedly while at the same time keeping it from getting any closer. The commotion had grabbed the attention of everyone else and they all came running as he managed to throw the walker out of the truck and on to the blacktop, holding it down as he kept it at bay.

Pulling the walker up, the fighter smashed the back of its head into the asphalt with a loud crunch, reaching out and grabbing a nearby brick and bringing it to bare before bashing it into the corpse's forehead repeatedly. Blood and grey matter splattering in all directions as he hammered away.

It was only when the walker stopped twitching was when he stopped, throwing the blood coated brick aside and standing upright. Wiping the blood from his face as he looked at Katjaa while she was being held by Kenny and Duck. "You okay?" he asked and getting a nod in return.

"Why'd ya bring him here in the first place, asshole?!' Larry demanded as they all gathered round. "You're gonna get us all KILLED!"

"He wasn't fucking bitten when I brought him here!" Chris shouted back, "If he was I would have dealt with it then and there and not put everyone at risk!" He had a feeling he knew what it was, and if he was right...then it was possible that a few other things about this world was possible as well.

"It's not the bite..." Everyone turned to look at Ben who was looking at the ground. "It's not the bite that turns you. You come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain, that's just what happens. It's gonna happen to ALL of us."

A chilled silence when through the whole group.

"That's why it spread so quickly." Chris said looking at the downed walker. "It's not the biting, though it must make the situation worse. This shit is in the air...and we're all infected with it." he looked at Ben, "You've seen this before, haven't you?"

The teen nodded, "Y-Yeah. Back when we were all hiding out in a gym at the time and everybody thought we were finally safe. One of the girls, Jenny Pitcher, I guess she couldn't take it and took some pills, a lot of them. Someone went in the girls' room the next morning and..." he trailed off not wanting to remember.

"Jesus..." muttered Kenny. The rest of the group all began to think hard about this new revelation, Chris in particular as he realized that if you came back no matter what happened to you, then that meant that HE was infected now as well when he was transported to this world.

 _"Need to stay focused, I knew that this was a possibility for some time now."_ he thought to himself. _"We really need to get our hands on supplies...or bail the fuck out of here or things will be getting a lot worse very soon."_

"BACK OFF!" Carley suddenly shouted, pointing her weapon outside the property making everyone jump into action. Looking over their fence and seeing two men pause in the middle of the road outside.

"Woah, lady, relax!" the taller of the two said holding up his free hand, the other holding an empty gas can. "We...we just want to know if ya'll can help us out."

"I said back off!" the reporter demanded not wanting anymore trouble for them.

The fighter walked up to the fence and looked at the men, they looked harmless with no weapons on them as far as he could see. "You armed? We don't want any trouble here." he said loud enough for them to hear.

"Of course. Neither do we." said the taller man. "I'm Andy St. John, and this here's my brother Dan. We're just out looking for gasoline. Looks like you folks go the motel locked down, which is fine, but if you could spare any gas we'd be much obliged."

"Why do you need the gas?" asked Lily.

Dan was the one that spoke up, "Our place is protected by an electric fence. Generators provide the electricity...the generators run on gas."

"Look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If ya'll be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some kind of trade." said Andy.

"How are ya'll doin' on food? We got plenty at the dairy." asked Dan making everyone within the motor inn look to one another. Lily looked at Chris who looked right back with serious expression, he knew what she was going to ask.

Their options were very limited, and any chance they had at finding their group what they needed took priority. And they had more than enough spare gas to broker such a deal with these guys if they were honest.

"Mark, Carley and I will go check the place out, see if it's legit. If it's as clear as they say that it is then we'll send someone back to let you all know." he said before turning to their guests. "You've got a deal, we'll bring SOME gas to your farm. And in exchange you give us some food to bring back to our people. If all goes well, we can figure out something more."

Andy nodded, "Sounds fair. A couple of gallons should power one of our generators for a while." The fighter nodded as he turned to Clementine who had come up to stand by him.

"We won't be gone long, stay here and keep an eye out for me, okay?" he asked.

"Okay. Please, be careful." his charge said in return a little worried for him before he and the others got ready to head out.

None of them noticing the figure watching them from the treeline on the hill several meters from the motor inn's entrance. Slowly slipping into the foliage unseen as they went about their plan completely unaware.

 _ **A/N: Too good to be true? In a world filled with chaos and death surrounded by the undead, there's no such thing as a 'good deal' without some serious strings attached.**_

 _ **You guys know what to do, and I'll be posting again within the next day or so.**_


	6. A New Haven?

_**A/N: I got four new chapters stacked up in my Doc Manager ready to be posted, and in the process, I was able to finish one that is completely divergent to the rest of the series. Though that chapter won't appear until after this arc in the series, and for those who know the game as well as I do, you know that things will only get more intense.**_

 _ **Also, someone mentioned about Chris' lack of knowledge with how everyone is infected. The answer for that is rather simple. It's hard to remember small details like that when you spend the last couple months worrying about survival and keeping the people around you fed and protected. I'd honestly make the same kind of mistake...**_

 _ **That being said, time to move on!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead.**_

"So, this dairy...you guys really have food?" Mark asked as the group of six made their way down a long stretch of dirt road through the woods toward the St. John farm. Chris stood behind the group with Carley while Mark, and surprisingly Ben who wanted to tag along, walked with the two brothers along the path.

"Sure do." replied Andy. "We've lost most of the cattle, but we still have lots of milk, butter and cheese stocked up."

"And with the vegitables we grow, we've got plenty of food." added Dan as they continued along.

While the others conversed, Carley turned to Chris. "It feels good to get out of that motel for a while. The whole Kenny/Lily thing is starting to get a bit out of hand. Personally I'd feel safer if you took charge more."

The fighter nodded, "Kenny said roughly the same thing earlier. You really think I can take charge with everyone back there?"

"Sure. Everyone looks up to you a lot more than you think they do. It was your quick thinking that got us out of a lot of trouble since all this started. A couple of us even owe you our lives in one way or another." said the reporter. "You're young, but that doesn't take away the fact that you're good with this kind of thing."

They lapsed into silence, just the breeze around them and the crunching of dirt and rocks under their feet being the only sounds. "I don't think the whole group would be happy with me running things, to be honest." Chris said after a few moments.

Carley nodded, "Yeah, with all the bullshit Larry causes overtime." she smiled at him, "Seeing you knock him down a few pegs verbally, and physically, is actually pretty reassuring a lot of the time. Wish everyone could have you're resilience."

"It's as much a gift as it is a curse, Carls." the fighter admitted. "I can't afford to let my emotions take control in those high tension situations, but it can't be helped a lot of the time. Because at the end of the day, it isn't about me or what I feel. It's about keeping everyone alive, keeping _Clementine_ alive."

The reporter gave him a warm look, "You really care about her, don't you?"

Chris nodded with a small smile of his own, "I'm not her family, just some guy that found her alone. But she trusts me, she looks up to me, I can't let her down. She's given me something to fight for in this fucked up world we live in, and until the day comes when I'm taken down I'll keep fighting until I have nothing left. And it's gonna be a long time before that happens."

"Sounds like a lonely job." said Carley looking forward again.

"It can be, but I push on. Hell, for all I know a future Mrs. Lachance is out there still waiting for me." he replied with a slight smirk. The woman smiled to herself and remained silent as they walked a little faster and rejoined the others.

"But thank god Chris showed up when he did." Mark said finishing his last statement.

"Yeah, why don't you tell us a little more about yourself, Chris?" Andy asked looking back at the younger man.

"Where ya from?" asked Dan.

"Atlanta." he answered casually, being honest for the first time in a while. Lying about his so called 'past' had become like second nature at this point. But it was certainly a lot better then telling them how he REALLY ended up here.

"Local boy, huh?" replied Andy. "Y'all seem pretty settled in at that motor inn. Who's running things over there?"

 _"Asking an aweful lot of questions, aren't we?"_ the fighter mused to himself but answered anyway. "We work as a group, everyone looks out for one another and watch each other's backs if it's needed."

Andy nodded, "I hear that. There are so many dumbasses out here fighting each other these days. It's just stupid."

The younger St. John looked over to Jason next, "How many people ya got over there anyway?"

That caused a couple of warning bells to go off in his head. No one would normally ask something like that unless it was for a specific purpose. "More than enough to defend ourselves if someone should start anything." he replied with a slight edge in his tone. Letting the brothers know not to dig too far into something they shouldn't be asking.

"Well, we'd love to get y'all out to the dairy." Andy said changing the subject. "Like I said before, we got plenty of food, and quite frankly, we could always use an extra helping hand."

Ben perked up, "In the summers, I used to help out on a goat farm."

"Yeah, that's great." said Dan. "Everythin' helps."

"Momma's been running the dairy for as long as I can remember, but now it's gettin-"

"-You think you're gonna cut me out of this?!" another voice from somewhere closeby cut off the older St. John. The group stopped in their tracks, dropping low to the ground before moving slowly into the trees, hiding in the tall grass and behind wide trunks as they observed two men wearing masks fighting with each other on the road paralell to theirs.

"No one's trying to cut you out of anything!" the other man shouted at the first.

"Fuckin' bandits." Dan muttered as Mark brought his rifle to bare and Carley drew her pistol.

"Those look like the people that raided my camp." said Ben keeping low to the ground while the two masked men continued to be at each other's throats. The group stayed silent and watched the altercation until the one that started it exploded.

"FUCK YOU!" he kicked the other man to the ground, raising his shotgun and blasting him in the chest. "FUCK! YOU! FUCK! YOU!" Each word punctured with another blast from the weapon that turned the other bandit's insides into a bloody mash.

"Jesus..." Carley gasped at the brutality happening before them. When the gun seemed to run empty, the enraged bandit turned on his heel and stomped off, muttering 'asshole' under his breath as he left the area.

"The world out here has gone to shit." Andy said shaking his head, "Come on, let's get to the dairy farm where it's safe." Nobody needed to be told twice and got up to move.

Chris cast one last glance toward the dead man before following after the others.

 _"I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this..."_

X

The rest of the trip was uneventful, but the event they all had witnessed had left a bad feeling in the pit of their stomachs as they entered the property that belonged to the St. Johns'.

Looking at the wide open fields and fenced in enclosures, Chris was immediately reminded of the Greene farm. Memories of Hershel and his family from those months ago coming back to him, especially that of what happened before he and the others had to leave.

The thoughts of green eyes and a bright smiling filling his mind for a fleeting moment.

Shaking his head, the fighter looked up as Andy spoke. "Here it is, the St. John's dairy." he said with pride as they walked past several outfitted fences wrapped in barbed wire with smaller wires running along them and toward the two-story home on the small hill ahead of them. "Ya'll can see how we've kept this place so safe." he continued motioning to the fences that gave off an electric hum as they moved by them.

"The fence keeps them out?" asked Mark.

"You betcha. They fry like bugs in a zapper." replied the older St. John. "We're pushing 4,000 volts through that thing, with generators and amps."

"I'm gonna assume that's a lot." commented Carley.

"It is one hell of a set up you guys have." Chris said looking around the property. He was beyond impressed, the defense seemed to work for the most part, and there was more than enough room to grow crops and store anything anyone would need. "The whole place seems untouched, like nothing outside has come in and damaged it."

"It suits us just fine." said Andy. "And it's worth protecting, hence all the juice." The screen door to the house closed making them look up to see a middle-aged woman with red hair coming down the wooden steps toward them.

"I thought I saw ya'll with company comin' down the drive!" she said warmly, her southern accent heavy.

Andy smiled before turning to them, "Guys, this is our mama." he introduced.

The woman smiled even wider, "I'm Brenda St. John and welcome to the St. John Dairy."

"This is Chris, he's from up in Atlanta." her eldest son said motioning to the fighter.

"Atlanta, huh? Big city boy come out to the country for a nice change of scenery I bet." Brenda said not losing her charm.

 _"You have no idea."_ Chris thought to himself. "It was nice, before everything went bad out in the world." he admitted getting a sad nod from the woman.

Dan turned to her next, "They've also got a few more friends staying at the old motel."

"Oh my goodness, that place is pretty vulnerable." the martiarch stated. "Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?"

"We all work together, even got a couple of people with military experience." said Carley, "But Chris here's got the survival instincts, it's gotten us out of more than enough tight spots." He shot her a look and she just smiled back at him as Brenda spoke again.

"Well, that's good to hear. That motel ain't the safest place." she smiled again, "Now that y'all are here, we'll make sure you're safe and comfortable."

"Does that go for the rest of the people in our group?" asked the fighter to make sure that everyone would be taken care of.

"Our food stores are starting to really run low." added Mark.

Brenda held up the basket that she had been carrying, filled to the top with bisquets. "These are for ya'll. Baked fresh this morning."

"Amazing!" Carley said in ellation as each of them took one and tried them. For people who hadn't eaten much in the last week or so, it was like heaven to them when the flakey pasteries made contact with their taste buds.

"Can't get stuff like that anymore, not without a cow for milk and butter, that's for sure." said Dan.

"That's right." added Brenda. "Hopefully Maybelle will make it through this bout of whatever she's got and be with us for a good-long while." she looked over at the nearby barn where the cow must have been kept.

"We have a vet with us!" Mark said thinking of Katjaa, "We could bring her here! We can help you folks out."

That brought of even wider smile to the matriarch's face. "A vet! Oh, my! Our prayers have been answered!"

"Maybe our whole group could come!-" Mark was shoved a bit and turned to see Chris glaring at him pointedly. Portraying a hidden message that he got instantly. "...for the day at least." he said fixing his error.

"Well how bout this, ya'll go get your veterinary friend, and I'll prepare some dinner. A big feast for all you hungry souls." offered Brenda. "It'll be nice to have some folks to help out around here again."

Chris nodded to her, "Sounds fair, I'll send a couple of us back to get the others, Mark and I will see what we can do around here."

Brenda turned to her youngest, "Danny, why don't you come help me out in the kitchen." the two made their way toward the house as the fighter turned to his group.

"Carley, you and Ben take the food back to the group and round them up for the trip back here. Mark and I will stay put and check this place out a little more. Don't go making any assumptions until we're sure that this place is locked down."

The reporter nodded while accepting the hunting rifle when Mark handed it to her. "Good luck you guys, take care of yourselves." The two set off back down the road they came up on, the two men watching their backs as they disappeared into the distance.

"Chris, Mark, why don't ya take a look around. Once ya'll get settled in, I could use some help securin' the perimeter." said Andy.

"Is there a problem with the fences?" asked the fighter, wondering if this little haven was as secure as they made them believe.

"Nothing like that. Sometimes, the dead get tangled up in the fence before they fry and end up knocking over a post. It'd be a big help if you two could walk the perimeter and make sure everything was set up properly. You can learn a lil' somethin' about our fence. I'm gonna go top off the generators before they run dry. Come get me when you're ready."

When the farmer was out of hearing range, Mark turned to the fighter. "This place is INCREDIBLE! It's got food! And that fence...oh man that fence! If we play our cards right, this might turn out to be a place we can stay..." he trailed off when he saw the look Chris was shooting his way. "...what?"

"You seem dead set on getting our people here when we just met these guys. We can't just openly trust people like that, Mark. There are too many factors that we don't know about." he said tensely while his gaze swept over the farm.

"Come on, Chris. This place is perfect for us. A lot better than the motor inn, and no one has to leave." Mark offered.

The fighter wasn't convinced. Ever since stepping foot on the property he had this rotten feeling in the pit of his stomach. Unlike Hershel's farm which had a warm and inviting feeling to it, this place felt...cold. The St. Johns came off as warm and inviting people, but there was something about them that seemed very off, like they were too eager to have them all there.

He couldn't explain it, like an instinct telling him that something wasn't right. _"Maybe I'm just being paranoid. But it's better to be safe than sorry."_ "Come on, let's go check out that fence before the others get here. Make sure this place is as secure as they say before we even think about staying here."

The other man nodded in agreement as they began checking out everything on the farm.

X

After spending a good amount of time looking around and talking with the family, Chris and Mark found themselves walking around the outer fence of the property looking for anything that could be out of the ordinary.

It was an even more elaborate set up then they were first led to believe. Every fence had a generator connected to it with enough wires and amps to pump electricity through them. 4,000 volts zapping through a walker was a sure fire way to fry them from the inside out like an oversized bug-zapper.

Andy had said it was the only kind of entertainment around here anymore with the way things are at the moment.

Chris kept his guard up as he questioned Andy, Brenda and Dan, the same feeling from before hadn't left him and he was always taught to trust his instincts when something didn't seem right. Some of the answers they gave were a little unsettling, they were cryptic about what had happened to about half their staff when the others fled to find their families.

They had also mentioned something about others coming around here, staying a while and making deals before going on their way. It made him wonder, and in this particular universe you needed to stay on your toes when dealing with people you barely met in the off chance they turned on you at one point.

Focusing on the task at hand, the fighter walked along the perimeter with an axe in hand that he had borrowed from the St. Johns' tool shed incase they needed it.

"So how's the place looking?" asked Mark. "Is it safe enough for us to stay...if we can?"

"Seems alright with what they've done with it." Chris said as he kept his eyes open. "But let's see what it takes to secure the fence before we go making any rash decisions."

"I can't wait until everyone's out here. Well...everyone besides Larry that is." the other man looked over at his partner who had this look of concentration on his face. "Chris? What's up, man? You've been beyond tense since we got here."

The fighter sighed, "I don't know. Just a bad feeling I guess..." he looked up and saw a fried walker hung over the top of the fence, an arrow stabbed through the side of its neck and pinning it to the post.

"There's one." Mark said as they approached it, taking not of its charred form as it dangled there unmoving. "Eeugh." he groaned while Chris kicked it to be sure that it was really dead.

Satisifed, he grabbed the arrow that was pinning it and pulled it free. Looking over at a nearby light bulb that was hooked to another post, Andy had told them that if the bulbs were on it meant the fence was active. Seeing that it was off, he raised his foot and kicked the walker off of the fence sending it to the ground with a dull thud.

"Come on, let's see if there's any more." he said as they continued their check.

"Once this fence is patched up, this place'll be a fortress!" Mark said after a minute. "God, can you imagine not having to worry about the walkers anymore?"

Chris shrugged, "It still needs gas. It's useless when the St. Johns run out and there aren't anymore places to get it." he said honestly.

Looking toward the younger man, Mark furrowed his brow. Thinking back to what he had said a moment ago about having a bad feeling. "What's your take on the brothers? They seem to have this place tied down pretty well."

"Can't say for sure. But it ties in to that bad feeling I've been having." he stopped making the other man do the same. "Mark, if there's one thing I've learned since everything went to shit, it's that you should never take things at face value. There are people out there who will act like your friend to get what they want, and when they do and you're no longer useful..."

He shook his head, "Call me paranoid. But too much has happened for us to not take caution in a situation like this. And we have too much riding on our decision to be taken in by a few perks like that."

Mark nodded seriously, understanding exactly where the fighter was coming from. "I get what you're saying. Just know that I've got your back if anything goes down." Chris nodded his thanks as they started moving again, finding another walker leaning heavily on the fence and causing it to bow inward.

Using the axe to push the dead creature off, Chris brought it to bare when he found that its hands were still clenching on to the top wire. "Fence burned through the flesh so bad that its fused to the wire." he muttered before bringing the blade down on the first hand and severing it. A second shot had the body collapsing to the ground.

"Ya never get used to the smell, do ya?" asked Mark wrinkling his nose.

"Not really, but after a while it doesn't bother you nearly as much." came the reply as they walked on, leaving the severed hands grasping the fence.

"Christ, I can't stop thinking about dinner." Mark looked at his partner.

The fighter simply nodded as they passed a wooden gate that led to the outside of the property where a small silo was set up. An old tractor sat a few meters away along the dirt path that ran along the fence.

Here they found a third walker laying over the fence pinning it to the ground. A couple other walkers laid dead in the dirt path outside meaning they had located a spot where the creatures could get into the farm.

"I think we can get better leverage from the outside." Mark said as they climbed over the downed fence. Chris laid the axe off to the side as they each grabbed a downed post and pushed them back into place.

Just as the posts were set up right, all the bulbs suddenly lit up bright. The dead walker began shaking as the electric current began frying its already charred body. "Holy fuck!" Mark shouted backing away as sparks shot out. "What the hell just happened?!"

"Don't know, just get clear!" Chris called back as they got a safe distance.

The older man looked his way, "Why the hell would he turn the fence on?! He knows we're out here!" The fighter went to answer him when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked out into the woods and made out several forms moving about the trees, some of them taking up positions which cause his eyes to widen.

"MARK GET DOWN!" he shouted grabbing the man and pulling him to the ground just as three arrows flew past where he had been standing.

"I told you what would happen you son of a bitch!" someone called out from the forest as more arrows and a few gunshots zipped through the air. Chris and Mark dragged themselves along the ground and took cover behind the nearby tractor as the rounds pinged off the other side.

"JESUS!" Mark shouted as an arrow ricocheted off the top of the vehicle. "Who the fuck are these guys?!"

"We had an agreement! Now you're FUCKED!" shouted another attacker as they kept up the assault.

Chris looked over the tractor only to duck down when a stray round clipped close to his head. "Fuck, these guys aren't playing around." He drew the pistol he had on him and looked around to quickly assessed the situation.

The gate in the fence was their only means of escape, but if they made a run for it they'd be dead before they made it five steps. Looking to the tractor they had taken refuge behind he formed an idea.

"That gate is our only way out!" he pointed to the front wheels behind Mark, "Move those blocks, I'll detach the bailer connected on the other end, we'll use the tractor as mobile cover to help us get that far."

Nodding, the older man leaned out and quickly pulled the stopping blocks keeping the farm vehicle in place. At the same time, Chris moved to the back tire, reaching out and grasping the handle that kept the bailer attached.

An arrow zinged past, slicing a cut into the side of his face making him recoil and duck back into cover before another could connect. "I see ya you piece of shit!" said the shooter as more arrows and a few bullets bounced off the metal.

Feeling warmth drip down his cheek, Chris gritted his teeth as he leaned out again. Pistol in hand as he fired into the treeline. A loud grunt echoed back, letting him know that he hit someone while he grabbed the handle and pulled it up before going back into cover.

With the tractor now loose, it began to slowly creep along the dirt path toward the silo, the two men keeping low to the ground and following after it as the rounds and bolts continued raining down around them.

Their attackers kept moving along the trees, shouting out to them and firing on their cover while it moved. "Did you really think you can fuck with us!" one exclaimed as rifle fire could be heard followed by the loud ringing when the rounds peppered the tractor.

When they reached the half-way point their cover suddenly stopped, "Fuck." Chris looked down and found the front wheels hung up on a dead walker. "We've gotta move this guy, keep an eye out for me." he moved up, handing the sidearm to Mark and grabbed the corpse's arms and began to pull. The undead was a little heavier then he had expected, but he had managed to get it out of the way enough for the tractor to start rolling again.

The fighter moved quickly back into cover as more bolts flew past him. Moving along the path until the tractor was stopped again. "Another one?! How many of these things were laying out here?!" Mark growled as he fired over the tractor while their cover continued to take hits.

"Just help me move it, we're almost there!' Chris shouted back as they each grabbed an arm and started to pull.

The walker rolled over and suddenly sprang to life. Decaying fingers gripping their wrists and trying to pull them down to its awaiting mouth. "Shit!" Chris raised his foot and brought his heel down hard on the creature's head, doing so a second and third time while they kept pulling.

There was a loud crunch, followed by the sound of tearing as the walker was literally torn in half. Intestines stretching as the duo moved the upper half out of the way, slamming both of their feet down on its head and crushing the skull to make sure it stayed down as they moved the rest of the way toward the gate.

It didn't take very long, the tractor connected with the front of the silo. "Mark move!" the fighter called out as they made a break of the gate, kicking it open and fleeing toward the farm house and leaving their attackers behind them.

"You lucky sons of bitches! Go ahead and run! We ain't goin' nowhere!" shouted someone from the trees.

"Just what the fuck was all that about?!" Mark shouted as the two of them ran throught he fields as fast as their legs could take them. "Didn't they say that this place was safe?"

Chris nodded, "They did, and I'm gonna have a long talk with those guys when we see them." he growled as they entered through the inner fences.

Andy had just come out of the barn when he saw the two running toward the house as though the devil were after them, seeing the blood oozing down the side of the fighter's face he got worried and ran over to them. "Chris? What's wrong?"

"I thought you said this fucking place was safe!" the younger man demanded, throwing one of the arrows that had been shot at them at the man's feet. "There was a bunch of assholes out in the woods taking pot-shots at us! You call THAT safety?!"

Picking up the arrow, Andy's face darkened, "Fuckin' bandits! They have no right being out here on our property!"

"Oh, my lord! What happened?" asked Brenda as she and Dan came out of the house from all the commotion.

"It was those bastards in the woods, mama..." Andy said, trailing off just as the group from the motor in, minus Carley and Ben, came up the drive.

"Chris? Christ what happened?" Kenny asked seeing gash and the blood caked on the side of his friend's face. Clementine saw this as well and ran over to her guardian.

"I'm alright, a bunch of bandits out in the forest took some shots at me and Mark when we were checking out the perimeter. We got lucky and managed to get away before either of us took anything worse." he replied wiping the back of his shirt-sleeve on his cheek, only for more crimson liquid to replace what he had taken away.

"They gave us a lot of problems in the beginning," said Andy. "Killed a bunch of our farm hands. We were able to get 'em to stop by makin' a deal."

Chris felt his anger spike as Clementine hugged his side, "But you KNEW about this! You promised us a safe place, you should have told us you made deals with goddamn scumbags like that!"

Dan held up his hands, "Food for protection. Not like we had much of a choice, but they did stop hasslin' us...until now that is."

"God dammit! Carley said this place was locked down tight!" Larry growled.

The fighter breathed out slowly, "I told her not to make assumptions until we were sure." he then looked at the St. Johns, "And right now I'm starting to think that this place isn't any safer than our current location."

"Listen, we may have had an agreement with those people, but we will NOT stand for this shit." said the older brother seriously.

"Ain't no way we're gonna let those sons o' bitches get away with this!" added Dan.

"You know where these assholes are?" asked Kenny ready for a fight.

Dan nodded, "They're hard to pin down, but I think I know where at least ONE of their camps are."

Chris looked around the property, at all the trees and foliage that surrounded the entire place and wondered if the bandits that attacked him and Mark were still roaming around. _"We can't risk going back to the motor inn right now, not with the possibility of those assholes still out there laying in wait. We'd be sitting ducks."_

"So what should we do?" asked Mark as the others gathered around.

"Are you sure you know where one of those camps are?" the fighter asked giving Dan a critical look.

"Without a doubt." said the farmer. "Just let us know what you wanna do and we'll be ready." with that the brothers went back up to the house followed by their mother leaving the group to themselves.

"We can't stay here." Lily said cutting in. "With those bandits out there it isn't safe for any of us."

"Not safe?!" Kenny asked scrutinizingly. "This place is a hell of a lot safer than that motor inn! I think all of us and our guns can handle a couple of punks with bows and arrows."

"They've got guns too, Ken." Chris mentioned getting attention back on him. "As for the security of this place I'm not completely sure on it either. But going back now would be a bad thing, those guys could be laying in wait for someone to cross their path. So for the time being we'll stick around and wait for the coast to clear before making a break for home."

"Cool your jets there, Rambo." Larry said as calmly as he was able. "These here are good people, lets take it easy around here before they decide to throw us out before we eat."

He had to admit that he agreed with Larry on that one, even though the outside was sketchy the interior seemed better defended in comparison. Their people would be safe for the time being while they figured out what to do next.

"Alright, I'm going to head out with Dan and deal with the bandits." the fighter started explaining. "In the mean time you guys poke around here and make friends with Andy and Brenda. See what else you can figure out before we plan our next move." he looked at everyone before glancing at Lily, "Where's Ben and Carley?"

"Since they ate some of the food on the way back to get us, they decided to stay behind and watch the motor in until we get back." replied the woman as Andy came back over to them.

"Hey kids, look what Chris got working for ya." he said pointing to a small swing that was set up under the tree closest to the house.

Both kids grinned from ear to ear, "A swing! I love swings! Just like at my treehouse! Come on, Duck!" Clementine said happily as they ran off to have fun. "Thanks Chris! You're the best!" the girl called over her shoulder bringing a smile to the fighter's face at her happiness. He saw the older St. John send a subtle wink his way before heading off to speak with his brother again.

The rest of the group split off in different directions, Kenny, Katjaa and Chris went over to check on the kids while Lily and her father went over to the gazibo by the barn. Mark went off to check over the barn itself, glancing the fighter's way and giving him a nod.

"Something's on you're mind, isn't it?" the fisherman asked recognizing the look on the younger man's face as they watched the kids enjoy themselves.

"Something doesn't feel right about this place, Kenny." he said in all seriousness. "I can feel it in my bones, but I have no way of proving it just yet."

Katjaa had dug through the fanny pack she was wearing, taking out a clean cloth and some bandages as she started treating the cut on the young man's face. "What kind of feeling are you having?" she asked more than a little curious.

Wincing when she finished cleaning the wound, Chris looked toward the farm house. "Like an instinct screaming in the back of my head. Ever since we got here it's felt like there's something off. And the way they've been acting since we got here, they seem okay and inviting, but I've learned to look underneath the surface since all this began. I think they might be hiding something."

Kenny scratched at his chin, "I don't know man, I mean, your instincts haven't led us wrong before. But this place doesn't seem to be all that bad. You and Mark were just attacked by a bunch of punks for Christ's sake, that would put anyone on edge."

"Maybe. But I can remember an old saying; 'if it's too good to be true, it probably is'." the fighter looked up and paused as his charge came over to them.

"Chris, can you come push me on the swing? Please?" she asked with wide, innocent eyes.

Sighing, Chris smiled after Katjaa finished bandaging his face and stood up to walk the girl over to the swing. Standing behind Clementine before gently pushing the ropes and causing her to sway back and forth.

"How are you holding up, sweetheart?" he asked after a few moments.

"I'm okay I guess. Are you okay? That cut on your face looks like it hurt." she asked right back a little concerned.

"It doesn't hurt that bad. I'm mostly worried about everyone else at the moment." the fighter replied.

"Are you going to find the people who tried to hurt you and Mark?"

He nodded, "Yeah, we can't let them hurt anyone else. And as long as they're out and about we all could be in danger."

She looked over her shoulder at him, "Please be careful. I don't want anything else to happen to you."

"Ever since you and I met, I've had a lot of good luck Clem. So no worries about that." He looked at the farm around them, "What do you think of the dairy?"

"It's pretty. It reminds me of how things used to look before." said Clementine.

He nodded, "Yeah, it kinda does."

"Do you think things will ever get back to how they were?" she asked.

It was a loaded question, one that could instill or destroy any hope his young charge had in the world and how things would turn out in the future. "It's hard to say, but things can't be all bad forever. Someday things could go back to normal." he said with honesty.

Clementine nodded, "That's good. I hope it's soon."

"Me too, baby-girl." he muttered before changing the subject. "We should be safe here for the time being, after we're sure that its all clear we can head back to the motor inn."

"Will you stop any bad people from getting me?" his charge asked as the swing stopped moving.

"Of course. I made a promise didn't I?" he said with a smile and getting a giggle out of the girl. "I think we should let Duck have a turn. I gotta be heading out soon anyway."

The young girl nodded, "You'll come back though, right?"

Chris grinned, "It'll take a lot more than a couple of jerks in the woods to keep me away. Just hang out with Duck and his family until I get back, okay?" His charge smiled as Kenny and Duck came up to have a go at the swing. The two men shared a knowing look before the fighter went over to the gate leading up to the house. Stepping through it and heading up the steps while the St. Johns brothers spoke on the porch.

"Chris," Andy said turning to him. "I'm real sorry you and your friend almost got killed out there. We should have told you how dangerous it was."

"No kidding." he said sacastically. "You can't expect us to be making any kind of deals if you aren't up front with us. We have a good number of people in our group, KIDS, we can't afford to not know something like this."

Dan nodded, "We understand. And you saw what they did out there, what they were TRYING to do. Nobody's safe here until we start to fight back."

"None of us are up for getting into some kind of war either." Chris said stiffly, "But you're right about no one being safe. They can just as easily attack our home as well. So checking out their camps would definitely be a good place to start."

"Was thinking the exact same thing." said the younger St. John. "We recon the place, then mount up for some well deserved revenge."

The fighter picked up the subtle, dark hints in the man's tone and filed that away for the time being. "Who are these bandits anyway? Where did they come from?"

"We don't know." Andy said with a shrug. "We think some of 'em used to work at the big box up the way."

"Save Lots." said his brother, correcting him.

"Yeah. Anyway, they're nutty as hell. And get mad when they're hungry."

Dan turned to the fighter, "So, are ya ready to head out there and find their camp?"

Looking back toward where Clementine was sitting down and talking with Katjaa, Chris looked back at the brothers and nodded, "Yeah. It'll give us a good chance to figure out what these guys are after and how many they have on their side. So let's get to it."

Nodding, the younger brother approached a nearby chair and produced two 30-30 rifles. Handing one to Chris while making sure the one he had was loaded. "We're just doin' reconnaissance for now, but better to be safe than sorry when we get out there."

"I'll hold down the fort while ya'll are gone. Good luck." said Andy as the two made their way toward the farm's entrance.

Chris paused and looked up to see Clementine coming over to them. "Are you leaving now?" she asked looking at the gun in his hand.

"Yeah, but we'll be back soon." he replied gently.

She looked up into his eyes, "Please be lucky."

The fighter smiled, "I will be." with that they began making their trek toward the forest. Clementine watched them carefully as they slipped out of the farm and approached the treeline.

 ** _A/N: And the plot forever thickens. The farm seems like a new home, but if there's one thing about the end of the world is that you never judge a book by its cover. And in this series, walkers are easy and simple minded, the living are what you need to worry about._**

 ** _Pretty sure I'll have the rest of the prepped chapters posted by the end of the weekend...and I've finally made a decision on what pairing I'm going with. So leave your reviews and keep a look out._**


	7. Dinner

_**A/N: Two updates within 24 hours, I'd say hitting my stride now just doesn't quite cover it. And what better way to show that off then by posting a chapter more than worthy of the category it's placed in.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead**_

The woods were almost completely silent as Chris and Dan picked their way through the underbrush. Heading toward where the younger St. John believed the bandit camp he had mentioned was located.

It had been almost fifteen minutes since they had left the dairy, and each step caused the already unsettling feeling in Chris' gut to amplify.

He still couldn't place where it was coming from or why, but he had managed to keep it to himself the entire time he had been out here alone with Dan. But at he same time, he kept the farmer within his field of vision. Making sure he didn't get behind him as they moved.

There may have been an agreement made between the two groups, but along with the feeling, something was telling him not to fully trust the man or his family.

"See anything?" Dan asked as they stepped through a cluster of bushes.

"Nothing yet." Chris replied, tightening his grip on the rifle in his hands as they went farther into the forest. A few birds flew away in the branches above as they made their approach.

"I know it's around here. It's gotta be close." the farmer said lowly, stopping when the fighter knelt down and observed an empty soup can that was laying on the ground. "Very close." he added as they started walking again.

Chris stepped toward a small opening in the treeline, peering around a tree when he located a couple of tents and tables set up no more then 20 meters ahead. "Over here." he called out softly.

Dan joined him and smirked. "Oh shit. You found it." he said as they observed the camp site. Nothing could be seen from where they were standing, so they crouched down low and moved along the brush to get a closer look.

Keeping his breath steady, the fighter crept behind a couple of trees, leaning out with his rifle at the ready now that he had a much clearer view of where the bandits had been setting up shop. The crosshairs before his eye moved along the site, but still nothing moved within the perimeter. _"Are they not here?"_ he wondered looking over at Dan who sent the same questioning look right back.

Lowering the gun. Chris moved forward a little more. Getting behind another tree that was right outside where a table littered with boxes and cans was set up. Leaning out of cover and looking over the camp site again, along with the surrounding area, he was able to pick up that the place was indeed devoid of anything living.

"Place looks empty." he whispered to Dan who was behind the tree next to him.

The farmer moved out from behind his cover and entered the camp, eyes scanning left and right as he approached the closed tent on the opposite side. "Watch my back, Chris. I'm gonna check out that tent."

Hanging back, the younger man kept his rifle braced against his shoulder as he looked for anything that seemed out of the ordinary while Dan stopped in front of the tent. Barrel of his rifle leading, he pulled back the flap, his body tense as he prepared to shoot.

After a moment he relaxed, "Clear." he said over his shoulder as Chris entered the camp as well. "This camp's too small. It can't be their main base." he said, taking stock of the size of the site itself.

"Probably an outpost or something. A place where they can watch people away from where they're really held up." offered Chris as he looked at all the empty food boxes and cans sprawled out on the table next to him.

Dan shrugged, "Maybe. Have a look around, there's probably some shit around here they stole from us." he said with a light growl in his tone.

Nodding, the fighter began to pick through the various containers that were scattered around the site. But considering the way things were looking, the chances of finding anything useful was on the very slim side.

All the cans looked like someone had been eating out of them recently. A kettle of water was boiling over a low fire in the center of everything but had nothing else in it. And the tent had two sleeping bags, one of them was meant for a kid according to Dan. _"This doesn't feel like a bandit camp."_ he thought thinking back to how the assholes had acted when they saw the two fighting on the way to the farm, and then the ones that attacked him and Mark.

"What's in the boxes?" asked the farmer as he started looking as well.

"Nothing, they all say Save Lots on the sides though. Looks like they were trying to move a lot of stuff from that place." replied Chris.

Dan nodded, "The first few days, they told folks to gather to the Save Lots by the interstate. Is there anything worth taking?"

"Not a damn thing. Whoever was here picked this place clean." The fighter moved a couple of boxes around on a table set up under a tarp and narrowed his eyes. Seeing one of the boxes behind the ones he moved had the name of the St. John's dairy on it. "Found a box from the dairy over here." he said opening it up, checking the contents and finding it empty as well.

"Probably the food we've been given' em. Fuckers crossed the line." replied the younger St. John brother while Chris kept moving boxes around and finding something else a bit out of the ordinary.

A digital camera laid on the surface. Completely out of place with everything else around. "Find something?" asked Dan coming over as he picked up the camera, pressing the power button and not getting anything in response.

"Video camera, but it's dead." he replied.

"Oh, good. What else they got over here? Let's see if we can find anything else and then get a move on." the farmer moved off to the side to check around the back while Chris watched him with narrowed eyes.

It was 'good' that the camera wasn't working? That didn't add up. And Dan was acting a little more skittish the longer they stayed there, and it wasn't from the possibility of the camp site's owners coming back.

Slipping the camera into his back pocket, he backed up a bit before heading toward the tent. Poking his head inside, he saw that Dan had been right about the interior. Two sleeping bags laid side by side on the ground inside, one of them meant for a small child and had a blood soaked rabbit on the top of it.

After looking over his shoulder to see if nothing was coming up from behind, Chris stepped inside and carefully started picking through what little there was. Much like outside, there wasn't anything that was deemed useable. There was a picture of a mother holding her daughter on the smaller sleeping bag and not much else, but something else caught his eye.

A lump at the top of the bigger sleeping bag. Curious, he reached out and moved the padded bed-spread aside-

-His heart nearly stopped...eyes widening beyond belief and his breath hitching in his throat...

Clementine's hat looked right back at him. A little dirt spread out on the bill, but definitely the one she wore everywhere...the same one that went missing days ago..."

"What...the fuck?" he muttered under his breath, picking up the hat and looking it over carefully and discovering that it was indeed his charge's hat.

"Don't you fucking move!" he froze, the enraged woman's voice that had spoken somewhere behind startling him.

"SHIT!" Dan exclaimed raising his weapon. Chris spun around and stood up, rifle in hand facing the woman who stood at the edge of the camp site. Pale, boney-thin frame being covered by dirty clothes, a old red vest with 'Save Lots' on the tag covering her shirt.

The woman's stringy, matted hair fell all over, but her crazed eyes locked on the two of them. A crossbow in hand ready to fire. "Put you guns down!' she demanded swinging her weapon back and forth between them. "I ain't going back. You tell 'em Jolene ain't goin' back!"

"Hey! We had a deal! No shooting as long as we gave you food! What the fuck happened?!" Dan said, his grip on the gun now tight.

"You had a deal with THEM! I ain't THEM." the woman, Jolene, stated while looking over at the farmer. "I know you. Oh, I know who you are, and I know what you do!"

"You don't know me." the farmer denied.

"Just who the fuck are you?!" Chris demanded. "Why are you even up here if you're not with the bandits?!"

The woman cackled madly, "Ha ha! Oh...it's a hell of a lot safer up here than down THERE, you best believe." She raised her crossbow again, "Now, maybe you didn't hear me last time when I asked you sweet...put your damn guns down!"

"You think I won't kill you? I'm gonna take this here crossbow, and put a nice sharp arrow, right through your eyeball. And into your goddamn brain! You're not men...you're monsters! All men are monsters! Take what they want and destroy it all! Take a can of beans, take a little girl...it's all the same to you!"

"Where did you get this hat?!" the fighter held up Clementine's hat as he gripped the rifle in his other hand.

Jolene grinned, showing rotten teeth. "From the little girl." she said causally.

Chris felt rage course through him, "You STOLE it from her! Why?!"

"So what if I did? You stole her from ME!" the woman exclaimed back.

"What the fuck are you going on about?! Clementine doesn't belong to you, you crazy bitch!"

The woman chuckled to herself, "You know what? I changed my mind...I'm putting this arrow right through your BALLS. Yeah! Right through. String 'em on that tree over there. Then I'm a head down to that farm, and shoot every goddamn person I see!"

 _"She's out of her fucking mind...but,"_ Chris looked around him briefly before settling back on Jolene. _"What the hell's happening around here? And how does she know about the dairy? Does...she know something we don't?"_ "Put. The crossbow. Down." he stated slowly. "You have no chance of killing us both."

"Maybe," Jolene cackled. "But I'm gonna use this to kill you fuckers!" she looked over at Dan and laughed louder. "Go on, tell him, boy! Tell him what you got in mind for-"

A loud bang echoed through the woods. The woman's left eye and the back of her head exploded in a fountain of blood and bone, her body collapsing face-first to the dirt lifeless.

The fighter was temporarily frozen by the sudden turn of events before looking to his left to see Dan lowering his weapon. "God dammit." he said shaking his head.

"What the fuck was that?!" Chris demanded, whirling on the other man.

"She had a crossbow aimed at our foreheads, boy. I wasn't gonna take no chances." he looked down as blood pooled around the dead woman's head. "It's a clean shot though...right through the eye. That's good shootin' right there. Still, what a waste."

Lowering his own weapon, but keeping his guard up. The fighter sighed deeply, "So I take it this counts as a job well done?"

"If they ain't here, I don't know where they are." Dan replied looking at the surrounding trees. "And it ain't a good idea to go tromping through the woods lookin' for 'em. So, yeah, we head back." he walked over to he woman and picked up her weapon before glancing over his shoulder at the fighter.

"Once they see this...they'll get the message."

They began to take their leave, but on their way out Chris looked back at the woman. She was about to say something about Dan and the farm before he shot her. That they were planning something and that it was something bad...

He started moving to catch up with the younger St. John. A small fire being lit in his stomach. _"I gotta tell the others when we get back...something's definitely off about all of this."_

X

They made it back to the farm just as thunder started to rumble somewhere in the distance. A storm slowly making its way across the sky in their direction.

"Man, that was a hell of a ride, huh?" Dan said, catching the rifle Chris had tossed to him.

"A bit excessive if you ask me." replied the fighter, "She was out of her mind, but she didn't deserve to be executed."

The farmer shook his head, "What? You ain't gettin' soft on them, are ya? Not after what they tried to do to you and your friend earlier."

Both men turned to the screen door of the house opened and Brenda stepped out to greet them. "You're back! What happened?" she asked.

"Handled it, mama." Dan said simply before stepping off to put the guns away.

Chris watched him go before going up to the front of the house as Brenda sat down on the porch. "This isn't what Terry would've wanted..." she said forlornly.

"Terry?" asked the young man, a bit curious.

"My husband. Miss him every day." she explained, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Then screw it up for everybody then, why don't you?!" they turned toward the gazebo where Lily and Kenny were locked in yet another heated argument.

"Oh calm down, Princess." the fisherman fired back. "I'll do it myself." they stepped away from one another. Lily going to a bench nearby and Kenny toward the barn.

Chris sighed, "They're going at it again..." he muttered scratching the back of his head.

"There certainly a lot of tension with ya'll, huh?" asked Brenda.

"A bit, it's what happens when you get two people with different ideas trying to run things." he said being as vague as he possibly could.

"It's just tough times, honey." said the matriarch warmly. "Everyone's hungry and people get stir crazy when their tummy's empty." thunder rumbled in the distance. "And Chris," the fighter perked up as she smiled at him, "Don't worry your head about those bandits. I'm sorry that you've seen more violence than I'da thought in your short time, but ya'll are safe here. Don't worry."

If he wasn't so amped up about the possibility of something being amiss about everything, he would have believed the woman's words. But the only thing it really did was make the feeling even more pronounced.

"I think I'm gonna go for a walk, check on everyone else and see what's been going on since I've been out and about." he said heading toward the gate.

"Don't wander too far. Dinner will be ready before you know it. And thank your friend Katjaa for me. She and the kids are in the barn with the cow. That woman is a life saver!" Brenda called after him as he headed toward the barn.

The large doors opened a bit and a familiar face beamed out from the space. "You're back!" Clementine cheered, coming out of the barn and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Hey Clem," he smiled down at her. "Everything been okay since I've been gone?"

"Mmmhmm, we're all in the barn looking after Maybelle. Did everything go okay out there?" asked his charge.

Chris bit his tongue, not wanting to worry her with what had happened out in the woods. "Everything was fine. And look what I found." he reached into his back pocket and unfolded her hat and held it out for her.

"My hat!" Clementine beamed as she took it and put it back on her head. "I knew you'd find it! You said you would!"

"That I did," The fighter's face turned serious, "Clem, when your hat went missing, did you remember seeing anyone around the motor inn? Someone you didn't recognize?" he asked.

"No." the girl said back confused. "Why?"

"It's probably nothing." her guardian said shaking his head, "Just remember to tell me or someone else in our group if you see something strange like that. Okay?"

"Okay." Clementine agreed as they headed to the barn together. "Hey, Chris?" she asked getting his attention. "Do you think you'll ever have kids?"

The fighter stumbled over one of his footsteps, righting himself quickly and clearing his throat. "Maybe someday. And if I'm lucky enough, I'll have a little girl like you."

"That's nice. You'd be a good daddy." his charge said back, making his insides warm from her statement. In all honesty, settling down and having a family was the very last thing on his to do list at the moment.

There was too much going on for him to even consider things like that. Not to mention that he was responsible for Clementine, and her needs came before his own no matter what.

The duo stepped into the barn and found the others gathered together.

Katjaa, Duck and Andy were all sitting around a white and black spotted cow as it laid in a soft bed of hay on the floor. Clementine approached the animal, a little hesitant when she raised her head and flicked her ears.

"It's okay, Clementine, you can pet her." Katjaa said smiling.

The girl look up at Chris who just smiled and nodded. Reaching out, she ran her hand along the cow's neck. "Whoa..." she said in slight awe. "Katjaa says Maybelle could have her baby tonight."

"Maybe, we'll see." said the vet while smiling at the kids' excitement. The fighter looked toward the back of the building to see Mark and Kenny talking by another set of double doors set up on the far wall. The fisherman looked up and motioned subtly with his head for him to join them.

Making sure the others weren't paying attention, he headed in the direction of the other men. "What's up?" he asked seriously, quiet enough so that no one could notice.

"Take a look." Mark said motioning to the door. A heavy-duty, dead-bolt lock had been installed on it and had a strong padlock set up to make sure that it couldn't be opened.

"That's a lot of security for something being kept on a dairy." said the fighter, thinking about what could possibly be on the other side.

"Chris, they're hiding something." said Kenny while keeping an eye on Andy who still had his back to them on the other side of the barn. "They got boxes of stuff. And something metal and sharp. Especially since that guy over there, Andy? He locked it up real TIGHT the moment we came in here, I definitely heard a noise back there. That feeling you were having before? I'm starting to get it in spades."

"Same here." said Mark in agreement. "I didn't wanna believe it at first, but when Kenny showed me this everything started to make sense."

Chris nodded and looked to the other two men, "It's more complicated than that." he explained to them about what happened in the woods, the camera, finding Clementine's hat at the camp, and the encounter with the woman that somehow knew of the St. Johns. Mark and Kenny slowly became more and more anxious the longer he went on.

"We need to think of something, and fast." said Mark when all the facts were laid out. "Most of our group is here, we have to make sure that it's really safe for everyone, especially if they really are hiding something."

"We gotta know for sure." said Kenny looking over at Chris, "Go find a hammer or something, and I'll have this thing off in a second. You guys back me up in case them farmers come running."

The fighter stopped him quick, "We need to be discreet, Ken. If they find us breaking into their shit we could wind up in a bad spot."

"Alright, mister ninja. What do you have in mind?" asked the fisherman.

The fighter looked over the lock assembly carefully. It was a strong system, designed so that people stayed out of where others didn't want them to go. But despite how well built it was, it had a very obvious weakness.

"We undo the screws, they're the only weak point on this system. We get them off, look inside, then put it all back up before anyone is any wiser." he said laying out he game plan.

"Sounds good," said Mark liking the idea. "Now all we gotta do is-"

"Can I help you boys with something?" they all snapped their heads to the side and saw Andy looking at them with a stern expression on his face.

Thinking fast, the fighter smiled at him. "Just talking about what we're planning on doing after dinner. If we're allowed to stay we need to figure how we're going to be moving all of our remaining supplies from the motor inn to here."

"It's a good idea to be thinking about somethin' like that." said Andy with a nod, "Hey, uh...do me a favor. Don't fuck around with that door. Just, you know, mama gets nervous."

Chris nodded, though his mind was working in overtime seeing how jumpy the man was for them standing so close to the mystery door. "Andrew! I need your help again!" Katjaa called out from her spot by Maybelle. Andy gave them one last look before heading back over.

"They're definitely hiding something in there." Mark said, keeping an eye on the man before turning back to the door. "We can't get this thing open with him hanging around like that, need to distract him somehow."

"If you got an idea, let us know." said Kenny.

The man thought to himself before perking up, "Got something. Sit tight for a minute, I might have a way to draw Andy's attention." he headed toward the doors and left the barn. Several minutes passed before he came back through the entrance and went toward the farmer.

"Andy, I think something's wrong with the generator. It stopped working."

"What?" asked Andy concerned as he left the barn in a hurry to deal with the problem. Mark watched him go before approaching Chris and Kenny.

"Do we wanna know?" asked Kenny.

Reaching into his pocket, the man produced a multi-tool. "Used this to cut the belt in the generator outside, that should buy us enough time to check out that room." The sound of a loud ringing could be heard from outside in the direction of the house.

"Mom! Dad! Dinner time! It's dinner time!" Duck shouted as he and Clementine bolted from the barn and toward the house, Katjaa calling after her husband and following after them.

The fisherman looked to the other men, "I'll make an excuse for you...find out what's in there." he whispered before heading out as well.

"I'll keep an eye on Andy," Mark said heading out as well. "If he starts coming this way, I'll stall him for as long as I can."

Now alone, Chris flipped open the multi-tool Mark had handed to him and pulled out a Philip's head screwdriver. Putting the tool into the screws holding the lock in place, he undid the four on the left side quickly, catching each one as they came out and pocketing them until the door was loose enough to open.

Slipping the tool in his back pocket, the fighter grabbed the door handle and slowly pulled it open. In an instant, his nose was bombarded with the smell or raw meat and blood. His eyes widening when he saw what was hidden behind the sealed door.

It was a room filled with sharp instruments, metal tables and tiled floors. Blood was stained on almost every surface and on every blade that could be seen, including a huge circular saw that was set up on the table right across from the door.

A large, white-tiled bathtub was on the immediate left, the interior stained dark-crimson and still wet from the shine giving off from the small lights above. There was a refrigerator door in the back right-corner looking to be some kind of meat locker.

It was a slaughter house...on a dairy farm.

"What the fuck...?" he whispered to himself as he surveyed the room. His gaze drawn to a table where a bunch of bear traps were being kept. _"Bear traps? Why would they-"_ he paused in mid-thought. Memories of the trap in the woods that caught Ben's teacher, forcing him to cut the man's leg off.

 _"...No...could that have come from here?"_ He heard voices outside and immediately jumped into action. Closing the doors and twisting the screws back into place as quickly as he could, slipping the multi-tool back into his pocket before heading toward the barn's entrance.

The doors opening as he reached out to grab the handle.

"Boy. Didn't you hear the bell?" Andy asked with a raised eyebrow. Mark behind him physically relaxing seeing that the door Chris had been looking through was back to the way it was before.

"Yeah, sorry bout that. Took a moment to myself after everything that's happened in the last day." replied Chris keeping a straight face through the lie.

The farmer searched his eyes for a few moments before nodding, "Alright then, can't blame ya after everything that went on. Well, come on now, dinner time." he said motioning with his hand toward the outside.

Stepping out into the heavy air, Chris looked up and saw that the skies had darkened considerably. The smell of wet dirt wafting through the air promising the coming rain while the thunder claps in the distance grew in frequency. All three men walked along the path, through the gates in the fences and up into the house where everyone had started gathering around the large dinner table talking animately with one another.

"Excuse the mess. We had to block the back door after a walker got upstairs." said Andy as he went into the dining room with Mark right behind him. Chris looked around briefly before standing in the doorway and looking to everyone as they all started sitting down.

Taking a quick head count, he found one of their group missing. "Lily? Where's your dad?" the fighter asked not seeing the man anywhere in sight.

"He wasn't feeling well earlier." replied the woman after taking her seat.

"Poor man was all worn out, I brought him up to the spare room upstairs to rest. Not to worry, I'll take a plate up to him a bit later after he's rested." Explained Brenda, "Now everybody sit down and I'll go get the meal! Ooh, this is a delight!"

Chris nodded, "Mind if I wash up before dinner?"

"Bathroom's right outside in the hall. And be sure to get under your nails, you've been muckin' around in the dirt all day." said the matriarch. The fighter followed her directions, heading back out into the hall and going into the room at the base of the stairs.

Turning on the sink and washing his hands quick, splashing some water on his face. He turned the knob and reached for the towel on the nearby rack when he heard a couple of soft thumps come from the ceiling above his head.

Looking up, he narrowed his eyes wondering what that could have been. _"Probably Larry moving around."_ he thought wiping his face off. He headed for the door and stopped when there were more thumps from up above, the noise from the dining room blocking it out from everyone else but making it as clear as day to him.

The strange feeling in his stomach that he'd been feeling all day came back. And after what he had seen in the barn he started to feel very tense at the moment with what the St. Johns might be hiding from them.

After a quick mental debate, Chris decided to head upstairs and check on the old man. He may not have been on good terms with him, but that didn't mean that his life didn't have any meaning.

Approaching the stairs, the fighter slowly began to tread his way up the steps. Feet causing the boards to creak softly under his weight with each step the farther he went up, keeping as quiet as he possibly could while keeping an ear out for anyone else coming into the hall.

He reached the top of the steps in no time at all, the wind howling against the window in front of him as he looked around the second floor landing. There was only one doorway to his left, and another a few feet away that looked like a closet.

Chris looked down at the floor and felt puzzled when he saw a long, orange extension cord coming up from the stairs he just came up. Going through the wood bars of the banister and across the floor into the closet.

Curious, he followed the cord and opened the door revealing all the shelves inside filled to the brim with medical supplies.

Morphine, rags, bandags, tubes, IV bags and syringes all neatly sorted before him making his mind whirl at what simple dairy farmers could possibly need with so many supplies like this.

At the very bottom was a small trash can filled with medical waste, with the orange cord feeding past it and through the wall behind everything, the center disconnected on the floor. "Where the hell is this going?" he wondered, kneeling down and plugging the two ends together and causing a light to shine through the small hole behind the shelves.

"Must be something on the other side." he mumbled while looking toward the bedroom door. Heading that way, he grasped the door knob. Taking a deep breath as he turned it and pushed inward before stepping inside.

He was greeted with a dark room and an empty bed.

Larry wasn't there.

 _"This doesn't make sense."_ he thought looking around for the old veteran. _"Brenda said he was up here...but where could he be?"_ Slivers of light shined through the darkness drawing his attention toward a bookshelf against the wall on his left. The outer edges lit up brightly from something on the other side.

Moving toward the shelf, he ran his hand along the edges and felt a door frame being blocked. The fighter pressed his shoulder against the surface and pushed, moving the barrier aside until the door it had been placed in front of was revealed. The moment he stopped he heard thumping coming from the other side.

Dread filled his being, his throat suddenly dry as he reached for the knob and pulled the door open. Causing light to spill into the room temporarily blinding him...

When his eyes adjusted...he wished that they hadn't...

It was a small bathroom...and blood was everywhere! In the sink, the tub, the toilet, the floor...it covered ever surface. Worse than the small slaughter-house he had found in the barn.

And laying in a huge pool of the crimson fluid on the floor at his feet was Larry.

The man's clothes stained dark with his legs missing at mid-thigh, the stumps tied off with IV tubes but continued to spurt out causing the pool beneath him to continue to grow.

"Oh...god..." Chris said in complete horror. His face losing all color seeing such a disgusting display. He saw Larry shift, the man slowly raising his head and opening bleary eyes to look at him.

"Chr...is..." he said in a low, drunken voice.

"Larry?! What the fuck happened to you?!" the fighter whispered loudly. His foot accidentally knocking over a small trash bin that had multiple stained rags and a several sharp pieces of surgical equipment.

"...those...fucking brothers...they did this...to me..." the older man groaned out. His weak gaze looked up at him, his jaw quivering, his next words knocked what little wind there was left in the younger man's body.

"Don't...eat...the food..."

The whole world seemed to come to a stop, the disturbing revelation of everything that had happened up to that point coming back like an uncontrollable flood. Everything made sense now, and at that moment the situation just took a very dire and revolting turn.

The St. Johns were fucking cannibals! And they were going to make them eat-

"Chris, did ya fall in?!" Brenda's voice drifted up the stairs bringing him back to the present like a slap of reality. "Dinner's on the table and everyone's havin' at it!"

His stomach did a horrible twist. _"CLEMENTINE!"_ he was moving before he even realized it. Bolting from the bedroom and practically jumping down the flight of steps, feet hitting the floorboards on the ground floor as he ran to the entrance to the dining room.

Eyes ignoring everything as they locked on to his charge who had just gotten her plate, her first bite on a fork on its way to her mouth.

"DON'T EAT THAT!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Everyone jumped, Clementine's fork clattering to her plate as all attention locked on to the pale fighter as he stood breathing heavily in the doorway.

"Chris? Jesus, man! Did you find something?" asked Kenny more than a little startled.

"Yeah Chris, what's gotten into you?" asked Lily crossly.

"YOU'RE EATING YOUR FATHER!" Chris shouted at her. "HE'S UPSTAIRS WITHOUT HIS FUCKING LEGS! THESE CRAZY FUCKERS CUT THEM OFF AND ARE SERVING THEM TO US!"

Everyone save for the St. Johns paled. Katjaa slapped Duck's fork from his hand as he tried to keep eating. Andy and Brenda were sending emotionless looks Chris' way. "What are you talking about?" Lily demanded.

The fighter glared at Brenda, "Tell them the truth. Tell them what they're eating, Brenda!"

The group looked at the matriarch who looked down at her hands in her lap. "It's true." she said causing everyone to gasp in horror.

Dan kept eating, his back to the fighter as he spoke. "It didn't have to be this way..." he said before taking another bite. "Everything could have turned out okay for you folks."

"He woulda' died anyway!" said Andy. "We gotta think about LIVIN'!"

"Settle down, honey." said his mother before turning to everyone else. "In rural Georgia, you're taught not to waste. It's how I was raised and how I raised my boys. Now, you got monsters roamin' around that do nothin' but eat people. And for what? To continue to rot til' they eat some more! We think we can put that meat to better use."

The fighter clenched his fists, teeth gritted feeling nothing but disgust for these people. "You people...are fucking SICK! Trading people like cattle, how the hell can you even look at yourselves?!"

"Andy is right," Brenda started. "We go after folks who were gonna die anyways, one way or another."

Dan swallowed a mouthful before glancing up at him, "Like ya'll."

Chris moved fast, snatching up the steak knife the younger St. John had next to him. Punching Dan in the face as he tried to get up to stop him before putting the knife to his throat. "CLEMENTINE RUN!" he shouted, pressing the blade closer to the other man's flesh.

"Don't do it boy!" a loud yelp pierced the room catching the fighter's attention. Andy had gotten up, hand gripping the back of Clementine's hair keeping her in place with a revolver pressed to the back of her head. "Let my brother go, or somethin' bad might happen to this little peach right here." he said with his face devoid of any emotion.

Everything fell into a tense silence, no one could find the strength to stand given the sudden turn of events. "Ch-Chris..." Clementine whimpered to her guardian as the farmer pulled her hair a little harder.

"Let her go, or I'll slit his fucking throat!" Chris demanded, the knife digging farther into Dan's neck, a line of bloode dripping down to his shirt collar.

The tension in the dining room was broken by a loud clatter out in the hall. All present looked toward the opening as the sound of something being dragged across the floor could be heard moving along the floorboards.

A moment later Larry appeared, pulling himself along on his arms leaving a streak of blood in his wake. "SOMEONE...HELP...!" he screamed reaching out to them.

The distraction allowed Dan to snap his elbow back into Chris' face. Stunning the fighter enough before he kick him hard in the stomach, knocking him back a few steps and into a china cabinet that shattered on impact before he fell to the floor..

He barely had a chance to put his hands up to defend when the farmer's boot slammed against his forehead. The whole world going on its side as people started shouting and darkness took over his vision.

X

Waking up had felt like that time back in the woods when he first came to this universe. Head pounding, vision blurry, but as things started coming back into focus it felt a lot worse than it had been back then.

He could hear someone yelling and someone puking. Cracking his eyes open, his vision swam for a moment before coming back into focus revealing the interior of some kind of meat locker.

"Chris?" he saw something move into his field of vision that quickly shifted into Clementine's worried face. "Chris? Are you awake? Say something!"

"C-Clem?" he asked sitting up slowly. His head feeling like it had been bashed in with a hammer. "Are...are you okay?" he asked as he came back to full awareness.

The girl nodded, "It-It was a person! They tried to make us eat a person!" she exclaimed.

"I know, sweetheart." Chris looked around the room. Mark, Kenny and Lily were with them. The two men trying to find a way through the heavy door while Lily was throwing up in the corner, on her knees looking as pale as a ghost.

"Open this fucking door! Give me back my family!" he heard Kenny shouting as he pounded his fists on the only way in or out of the room.

"We gotta find another way out of here." Mark said looking around the rest of the room before he caught sight of Chris being awake. "Chris! Thank god you're awake!" he said kneeling down next to him.

Shaking his head, the fighter staggered to his feet as the last of the dizziness left him. "What...What happened?"

"Bastards knocked you out, then restrained the rest of us before we even had a chance." said Mark, a few bruises on his face proving that he had fought back at one point. "But we got a bigger problem at the moment."

"Those psychos have my family!" Kenny shouted while turning to them. "And we're stuck here in this damn meat locker! We've gotta get the fuck outta here!"

Looking around them, Chris nodded. "Agreed. There's gotta be a way to get out of here. Keep looking for something; a vent, exposed screws, bolts, loose panels, anything that we can pry open and escape through." the other two nodded and spread out.

"I'm scared." Clementine whimpered getting his attention, rubbing her arms to stave off the cold.

The fighter knelt down infront of her, "Everything's going to be alright, we'll get out of this. I'll make sure of it." he said seriously. Looking over at Lily, he saw that she was slumped against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest as she heaved in slow breaths.

"Lily?" he asked moving over and crouching down next to her. "Lily, we need to work together to get out of here."

She said nothing, head bowed with her brow pressed against her knees.

"I can't imagine what you're going through. The situation is beyond fucked up. But we need everyone on board if we want to have any kind of chance to survive this." At first, it looked like what he was saying had no effect. Until her head slowly rose and looked up at him, eyes dull and empty while her complexion looked white like a sheet.

It wasn't a surprise, the poor woman had just been forced to eat part of her father by a bunch of cannibals. Nobody would be in a good state of mind after something like that.

Chris put his hand on her shoulder, "Do it for your dad...let's get back at these fuckers for what they've done."

Lily's eyes narrowed, her face turning into that of a snarl, "Fuck off, Chris. You didn't..." she held her mouth, seeming to throw up again. "Just...leave me alone."

He sighed, she'd be in no condition to move at the moment...things were just too fresh.

"Chris! Over here!" Kenny called out while motioning to the air vent system hooked up to the right of the door. The unit was roughly six and a half feet above the ground and seemed to be the only ventilation system for the locker.

"If we had something to remove the screws on the mount, we could take this down and crawl out of here." said the fisherman.

Checking his pockets, the fighter discovered that the multi-tool had been taken off him. "Fuck. Anyone got something we can use to take the screws out?"

Mark checked his pockets and perked up, "I do!" he pulled out his hand revealing two quarters and a dime. "Back at the motor inn, these were given to me as part of a joke. By..." he looked at Lily and went quiet, not wanting to make her any more upset then what she already was.

"These could work." Chris said taking one of the quarters. Holding it between his thumb and forefinger as he slipped it into the notch of the screw and twisting to the left.

There was a soft creak, and the screw gave way as he began to turn it until it popped out completely. He repeated the same process with a couple of others before he and Kenny grabbed the unit and pulled it down from the mount. Revealing a shaft that had been on the other side.

"There's our way out." said Kenny looking up at it. "Looks like it could probably led into that back room."

"No way in hell any of us can fit through that." said Mark after seeing the size of the opening.

"I can do it." they all turned to Clementine who was doing her best to put on a brave face.

Chris wanted to say no, to try and find another way. But there wasn't enough time to consider other options at the moment. "Are you sure?" he asked his charge, getting a nod in return. "Okay. Be careful, be silent, and at the first sign of trouble you run, understand?"

"Okay." he put his hands on her waist and picked her up high enough so that she could slip into the vent. "What do I do when I get out?" she asked looking back.

"Try and find the lock that seals the door and open it from that side." he explained. She turned and started making her way through the shaft.

Seconds ticked by, the group of four waited with bated breath as they heard the girl banging around inside the shaft. The fighter winced every time one noise would be louder than the others. Soon the banging stopped, a loud gasp echoed out making them all jump.

"Clem?" Chris called after her, worried that she had been discovered.

A moment later the door to the locker clicked, swinging open to reveal the little girl with a freaked out expression on her face.

"You okay, baby-girl? Did anyone catch you?" her guardian asked.

She shook her head, "No. But there's a man outside."

The fighter nodded, "Okay." he looked over at Lily who still hadn't moved. "Stay here with Lily, look after her, she's not doing too good right now. Mark, Kenny and I are going to find Duck and Katjaa."

"Okay, please be careful out there." Clementine said heading over to the woman and sitting down next to her.

Looking toward the other two, Chris nodded seriously as they headed into the small slaughter room he had uncovered earlier. The sound of heavy rain hitting the roof above drowning out almost every sound that they made as they traversed the room.

"Fuck..." Mark said in disgust seeing all of the bloodied equipment surrounding them. "It's a damn human slaughter-house."

"I should have trusted my instincts. I knew there was something fucked up about this place." The fighter said clenching his fists. "Look around, find anything that can be used as a weapon. We're getting the hell out of here." he reached out and picked up a small taser, looking it over a moment before finding a bloody sickle on another table that he exchanged for.

Kenny picked up a small cleaver, while Mark settled for a knife that was laying on the edge of the drainage tub. All three men then headed toward the door leading out, pulling it open a crack and looking out into the barn.

The main entrance was also open a bit, with Dan sitting on a hay-bail in front of it with his rifle leaned up against the side as he looked out into the rain outside. "Do we have a plan?" asked Mark, gripping the knife in his hand.

"The rain should cover footsteps pretty well." Chris said, looking around the barn's interior. "We sneak up on the fucker, take him out, take his gun, then head for the house. Duck and Katjaa are probably being kept there."

Kenny nodded, "Sounds good. Let's get this fucker."

"Mark, stay back here and provide back up if things take a bad turn." the fighter said turning to him. The other man nodded as he and Kenny opened the door a little wider, slipping through and gently treading their way across the floor boards.

Breath held, the two slowly made their approach. "...Who wants some?" Dan called out into the dark making them pause a moment. "I DARE some dead assholes to try to cross my fence tonight!" Realizing that he wasn't talking about them they kept moving, drawing ever so closer to his unguarded back.

"Dan, what are you doing outside the barn?" Chris and Kenny froze, the fighter pushing the older man into a nearby stall and closing the door just as Andy came up to the opening to the barn and began talking to his brother.

"Just guardin' the place, like you said." replied the younger brother.

"Well, quit sittin' out in the rain like a damn weirdo. Mama says we can't keep that many folks alive and not expect any trouble." said Andy. "Pick one to keep...and kill the rest."

"Can I pick the one to keep alive?" asked Dan.

"Not the kid. Not enough meat on her to trade."

Chris gritted his teeth, rage filling him like a blaze from hell _"These assholes are going to pay for this! They'll regret not taking me out when they had the chance."_ He opened the stall just enough to peer out, seeing the brothers exchange a few more words before Andy walked off. Dan came into the barn, taking out a bear trap and setting it up close to the door, most likely in the off chance one of them tried to escape.

"What's going on?" Kenny whispered.

"He's setting up traps so we can't get away." the fighter whispered back, closing the door when the farmer turned around and headed toward the barn door. The sound of the entrance closing quickly following as he looked at the fisherman. "Dammit, lost him."

Kenny tensed, "Take another look, find out where he went."

He slowly pushed the door open-

-And found the barrel of a rifle aimed right in his face. "Mistake, boy." Dan said with a sadistic grin on his face.

Chris grabbed the rifle and torqued it to the side just as it went off. The sound deafening him for a few moments, but he recovered enough to pull out the sickle and stab it into the man's shoulder.

Dan screamed in pain, blood gushing down his front as the fighter drove the blade in deeper. He swung the stock of the rifle out, but Chris blocked the man's arm from getting too close and delivering a powerful right-cross that snapped his jaw to the side. He stumbled back, dropping the weapon as Kenny burst from the stall, the cleaver in his hand slashing a wide gash in the man's side before he could recover.

Falling back, the farmer's leg fell into the bear trap he had set up that quickly snapped shut. The sound of it closing and the sudden crack of the man's ankle breaking could be heard over the rain. He shouted in agony, clutching at his leg as blood began to seep out from where it had closed.

"Where's my family asshole?!" Kenny demanded, ready to tear the man apart if he didn't start talking.

Dan glared up at him. "You can't have 'em! We need the vet!" a foot connected with his side, breaking a rib and sending him crashing to the floor.

"Start talking you sick fuck!" Chris shouted while placing his foot on the man's chest to keep him pinned, grabbing a pitchfork from one of the nearby bails and raised it close to his throat.

The farmer laughed insanely. Mark, Lily and Clementine coming out from the back as he started speaking. "You see?!" he groaned in pain, holding his side. "You understand now, don't you?! You can have me! It's how the world works now! Give part of yourself...so others can live!"

"That ISN'T how things are suppose to be!" the fighter shouted back. "You and you're fucking family are worse than the walkers! At least they a just mindless killing machines! You lure people in and turn them into food to trade!"

It was here he remembered the woman in the woods, the one that had Clementine's hat. Her words now making sense. "That woman...she was trying to warn me about you and your family...You fucking killed her so your damn secret wouldn't be blown! All of you are nothing but sick, twisted fucking animals and I'm done with you're shit!"

He raised the pitchfork a little higher, "Now were are Duck and Katjaa! We won't ask again!"

"NOOOOO!" Katjaa screamed from somewhere outside.

"KAT!" Kenny shouted looking out into the storm.

"Go Kenny! I'll be right behind you!" Chris told the fisherman, keeping his gaze on Dan as his friend bolted out of the barn to find his family.

The farmer started chuckling. "Remember, Chris. You gotta keep me alive! If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can't eat it!"

"You're already fucking tainted..." The fighter growled, hands tightening around the shaft of the tool he was holding. "You and that whole family of yours are nothing but a plague in what's left around here." He brought the pitchfork up and stabbed it down.

Dan shouted, clenching his eyes and waited for the pain to come as the pitchfork came toward him...

...stabbing into the hay bail on his right.

"I am NOTHING like you." Chris said stepping back. "This world, won't turn me into a monster that preys on others. I won't kill you...but that doesn't mean I have to save your ass." He turned and looked at the three that were watching him with wide eyes. Clementine looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears as he gazed back at her.

"Oh god! Don't hurt him!" Katjaa's voice pierced through he storm snapping them back to the present.

"Mark! Lily! Keep Clementine safe!" the fighter said before bolting out of the barn and into the pouring rain. Lightning flashing in the distance and lighting up the dark sky above as he looked around for anyone else.

"Kenny!" he called out not seeing the fisherman anywhere in sight. Looking up toward the farm-house, the lights from the windows cutting through the night. Eye narrowed, he began to head up that way when he heard rustling from the nearby cornfield.

Through the crops, he could make out a hunched, groaning form stumbling forward toward the fence.

Chris put one leg behind the other, preparing to take down the coming walker when something swept up behind it and cut its head in half.

A moment later, two familiar forms crept out of the shadows and up to the barbed wire fence.

"Carley? Ben?" he asked, relieved to see the two of them.

"Chris? Is everything okay? We heard screams coming up to the house." said the reporter worried.

The fighter shook his head, "These fuckers are crazy! They killed Larry and tried to feed him to us!" he said over the rain.

"Dammit, I knew we shouldn't have trusted them." Ben said shaking his head.

"Shit." growled Carley, "How many of them are there?"

"Only two, we disabled one of them back in the barn. The other two are up in the house, they have Duck and Katjaa." Chris explained looking back up toward the house. "Kenny went up there to look for them, but I haven't seen him yet."

"What do you need us to do?" asked Ben more than willing to help anywhere he could.

Looking around a moment, the fighter turned back to them. "Main gates a bad idea, go around back and find another way in. If you run into either of the remaining St. Johns don't let them escape! Do what ever it takes!"

"What are you going to do?" asked Carley taking out her pistol.

He looked up toward the house, "I'm getting into the house. Be careful guys, these people are off their fucking rockers."

Nodding, Carley motioned for Ben to move. Sending a worried look Chris' way before they disappeared into the field again.

Chris looked at his target and began to make his way forward. Another scream from Katjaa from inside had him running up toward the door.

A form appeared in the screen door and Brenda's voice drifted outside. "Andy? Danny? Is that you? What's going on out there?" she asked not seeing mush of anything.

"Danny's in the barn...regretting everything you've done to us!" Chris called out as he stomped up toward the porch.

Brenda backpeddled from the door and vanished just as he reached it. The sound of a struggle from within followed by another scream. He could make out the St. John matriarch holding Katjaa in front of her with a revolver pressed to her temple.

"CHRIS! THEY HAVE DUCKIE! PLEASE!" the woman pleaded.

"Shut up!" Brenda demanded before looking at the fighter. "Get back! Don't come in here!"

His heart beating in his ears, throat dry and clothes soaked all the way through from the rain. Chris grabbed the handle and pulled the door open slightly. Looking into the dark interior of the house's main hallway and looked toward the woman holding his friend hostage.

Brenda shook, holding her weapon to Katjaa's head as she glared at him. "You just HAD to go snooping around, didn't you?!"

"Let her go Brenda." he said stepping into the house. "It's over now, no one else has to get hurt."

The woman took a step back on to the stairs. "Don't you take another step!" she shouted aiming her weapon on him making him pause. "Just go away and leave us be!"

Chris shook his head, "I can't do that. Let Katjaa and Duck go, then we'll leave." he took another step or two forward, Brenda moving back slowly keeping the distance between them the same while maintaining her hold on her hostage.

"Stop right there! I mean it!" she screamed aiming the revolver back at him.

Raising his hands, the fighter spoke, "Think about Terry, Brenda. Would he have wanted his farm turned into a slaughterhouse?! His family into cannibals when they could be helping people?!"

She ignored him and continued moving back, "I'll kill her, Chris." she said, her voice quivering. "Just stay back, don't do anything stupid!"

"Brenda...please..." Katjaa pleaded the farther up the stairs they went. The fighter saw movement up by the banister when the lightning flashed outside. A pair of pale, grabbing arms reaching through the bars at the woman's back that she was completely unaware of.

He realized that it was Larry's zombified remains. He must have bled to death after they had all been rounded up in the barn and had turned as a result. _"Gotta keep her talking, gotta keep her moving, it's Kat's only chance."_ "Brenda...there's been too much death already. It doesn't have to end like this, you can redeem yourself."

She kept moving back, "I don't want to kill you, Chris!" her aim shook as they stood only three meters apart.

"Look around you!" he shouted up at her, "You've turned this beautiful place into a fucking nightmare! How could you have let this happen?!"

"You don't understand!" she said back, continuing up the steps oblivious to the danger. "We had to do what we did! It was the only way to -AH!" She screamed when Larry's dead hands grabbed the back of her neck. Releasing Katjaa and sending her down the steps forcing Chris to catch her as the undead veteran's teeth sank into the matriarch's neck, flesh tearing free as he began to feed.

"Kat?! You okay?!" the fighter asked over the dying woman's screams.

"I'm fine, but they still have Duck! Where's Kenny?" she asked in fear.

"I said don't move asshole!" they heard Andy shout from outside.

The two of them ran out of the house and out into the yard to see Kenny facing the farmer who was holding Duck before him. A hunting rifle pressed to the back of his head with his finger hovering over the trigger. "Let him go god dammit!" the fisherman raged, bolting forward.

The gun fired. Kenny fell to the ground holding his side while Katjaa screamed, the woman going to her husband's side. "DAAAD!" Duck cried as the man holding him turned his weapon on Chris.

"Who the fuck do you people think you are?!" Andy shouted. "Look at what you've done!"

"You brought this on yourself. You and you're whole damn family! You promised us safety and food, not THIS!" the fighter shouted back. "Let the boy go, it's over! We're walking out of here!"

The farmer shook his head, "No way! We had a deal! And you're keeping your end of the bargain!" whatever else could have been said was swallowed up by another gunshot. Andy shouted, grabbing his ear as a bullet blew right through it.

Carley stood at the top of the hill behind Chris. Ben, Mark, Clementine and Lily all with her as they stood united.

Seeing his chance, Chris roared as he charged forward. Moving Duck out of the way as he slammed his shoulder into Andy's middle, making his next shot go wide and sending them both pitching over the side of the hill.

"CHRIS!" Clementine screamed as the two men smashed through the wooden fence at the bottom of the muddy slope.

Shaking off the daze, Chris rolled back to his feet in time to block a kick that had been aimed for his head. Lashing his other hand out, he sucker-punched the farmer in the lower stomach and knocked the wind out of him.

Getting upright, he took a stance as Andy came at him again. Blocking a haymaker that would have cracked his jaw, he sent out his own right-cross that connected with the man's temple and making him stagger. A left jab followed making the farmer's head snap back and allowing the younger man to land a spin kick to his solar plexus that sent him crashing to the dirt.

The fighter wasn't done, rage and adrenaline coursed through him like a drug. He wanted this man to suffer for everything he put his group through, what he put his FRIENDS through.

He wanted him to feel PAIN.

"GET UP!" he shouted, grabbing Andy by the front of his shirt and dragging him up. His fist connected with the man's cheek with a loud crack, sending him crashing to the mud. Chris straddled him, knees pinning his arms down as he began raining punch after punch down on the farmer's face.

Each strike that landed was met with a satisfying 'smack'. Teeth jarring, cartilage cracking as bruises began to already take shape. Blood dripped out from Andy's nose and mouth as the younger man kept up the relentless assault.

His knuckles twinging with each hit was swiftly ignored, Chris' focus was solely on dealing as much damage to the man beneath him as possible.

The group had gathered behind them, looking on as the one they came to know as a friend continued to beat the deranged farmer into the dirt. Clementine watched wide-eyed, hand grasping on to Carley's as she watched her guardian lose himself to his fury.

Time meant nothing, but he did stop after a while. Looking back down at his opponent, Chris saw Andy's face was a bloody and bruised mess. His nose completely shattered and gushing blood, jaw visibly dislocated and his right eye swollen shut.

Taking several deep breaths to calm himself, his anger fading as he looked down at his blood covered knuckles. Everything coming down on him in that moment as the rain continued to pour, dripping down his face and falling off his nose and jaw.

Rising to his feet, the fighter spat at the farmer before he began to walk back toward the group.

"Is that...all ya got, Chris?" Andy slurred around his dislocated jaw, pulled himself up into a sitting position, attempting to stand only to fall to his knees. "You ain't...shit!" he raged, spitting out a couple of teeth and a glob of blood.

Chris tensed, turning to face the man who still wanted to fight. "It's OVER!" he roared. "You! Your family! This farm! It's DONE!"

Andy chuckled weakly, managing to get himself into a slumped-standing position. "F-Fuck you! As soon as...Dan and mama get out here...you're all fucked!"

The fighter shook his head, "They're not coming, Andy." he spoke in a grim tone.

"W-What do you mean?" the farmer asked, his lone eye widening. "Chris! What the fuck do you mean?!"

They stood there facing one another silently for a few seconds before Chris turned and began walking back to the group again. "Don't you DARE walk away from me, BOY!" Andy shouted after him, but he just kept walking. "Get back here and finish this!"

Chris paused in mid-step. He looked toward his group, all of them looking on with hitched breath as they waited for his decision. Seeing Clementine gaze catch his own, her head slowly shaking from side to side, telling him to walk away with them.

Turning to look over his shoulder, the fighter said not a word as he continued toward the others. "Get back here and fight me like a man!" Andy shouted when he refused to come back.

All around the farm, walkers began to come out of the surrounding woods. The generators around the farm began to smoke before shutting down, cutting all power to the fences as the undead began to converge on the property.

"They're getting in!" Clementine shouted as the walkers began to tear their way through the fences.

"Come on, we're leaving!" Chris called out to everyone as he picked up his charge and they all started moving.

"CHRIS!" Andy shouted out as the creatures came toward him. Lily was the last to leave, sending one final scathing look toward the broken man before following after the rest of the group. Leaving the St. Johns and their farm to their fate as they began to make their way back toward the motor inn.

The young fighter leading them away from horrid place. Thunder and lightning crashing in the sky as the storm raged on.

 _ **A/N: And a powerful ending to a powerful chapter. Only one more remains of DFX's original work that I modified before delving into my original content. And I think many of you will be pleasantly surprised by chapters 9 and 10.**_

 _ **Keep the reviews coming guys, it's good to know how I fare with this.**_


	8. The Choices we Make

_**A/N: Welcome back to the ever growing series that I hope to become one of my best.**_

 _ **I'm going to say that this is the last chapter based off of DFX's work. After this, it will be where I officially make this story my own. But for now, the ride through zombie hell continues!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead**_

The rain had finally stopped, the storm passing a little while ago leaving the night-time air a bit heavy and cold. The group of nine made their way through the woods, along the wet dirt path back toward the motor inn.

All of the horrors and disgust that they had bore witness to at the St. Johns farm still very fresh on their thoughts as they put as much distance between themselves and that place as possible.

Kenny was still holding his side, the bullet from Andy St. John's gun having just grazed him. The fisherman had been lucky, but seeing his wife and son walking along side him proved that he was far more than just lucky. His eyes looked ahead at the one leading them back.

Chris walked with long, meaningful strides. Little Clementine at his side, her tiny hand grasping onto his as they walked through the woods.

The others were watching as well. Katjaa, Mark, Carley, Ben, even Lily all had their eyes on the fighter. His actions, quick thinking and instincts had saved them from a horrible fate. And even though they lost Larry, they were all happy that he had been the one to pull them all through it.

Carley moved up to stand on his other side, "Hey, Chris. I'd say I'm sorry for leaving the motel unattended, but-"

"It's okay Carls." he said flashing her a smile. "If you and Ben hadn't shown up when you did, things could have been a lot worse...nice shot by the way. Blowing a man's ear off isn't an easy one to make."

The reporter smiled back before remembering what he had told them about what was happening on the farm. "Were they really killing people?...For food?" she asked fearing the answer.

He nodded grimly, gently gripping Clementine's hand when she shivered. "Yeah...they were."

"Urgh! That's sick. God. Just..." she looked down at the little girl before dropping her voice to a whisper. "Clementine...does she know?"

"She's not stupid, Carley." Chris said back in the same way. "And after everything she saw when it all came out...I wish she hadn't, but it was out of our control."

Carley reached into her back pocket and produced a digital camera. The same camera that he had found at the camp he and Dan had snuck into before all the chaos. "Katjaa managed to grab this while she was in the house. She said it was with your stuff." she explained.

"Yeah, found it when I was looking for the people that shot at Mark and me. Batteries are dead, but there might be something on it that could be useful." he replied, taking it from her and slipping it into his own pocket. Looking back at the rest of the group, he saw a few people were lagging and decided that they needed a break. "Let's stop for right now, catch our breath and we can keep going afterward."

Everyone spread out, Lily and Mark who both had rifles they managed to pilfer from the farm stood guard while the others relaxed. Katjaa had Kenny sit down on a rock as she examined his wound.

"How are you feeling?" asked the woman concerned.

"I'll be fine." he groaned. "I'm just...not as young as I used to be."

"You can still kick a lot of ass, _grandpa_." they looked up and saw Chris approaching them. Having left Clementine with Carley so that he could check on everyone else. "You guys alright? Things got pretty bad back there."

"We're all fine now, thanks to you." Kenny said grinning before turning to his family. "Hon, can you and Duck give me a second? I want to take to Chris for a bit."

Katjaa nodded, turning to the younger man and wrapping him in a tight embrace. "Thank you." she whispered, leaning back to give him a smile before taking her son and going around to look after the others.

The fisherman was silent for a few moments before looking at his friend. "There's gonna be fallout after this."

"I know." Chris said nodding. "No one's going to be the same after what happened." he looked toward Lily who still seemed very much out of it. "It's not just the farm either, eventually those bandits will notice those freaks are gone and go looking for new targets...and we're the only ones around at the moment."

Kenny nodded, "We need a plan, and a damn good one. That RV back at the inn is just about ready. I say we finish fixing it and get the hell out of here."

"Agreed. Just need those last two parts and a few extra supplies." the fighter looked around them. "We gotta start moving again, can't stay out here for too long, we're too exposed." He looked over and saw Clementine approaching them. Kenny took that moment to head over toward his family as the guardian and charge spoke.

"Hey Clem, everything okay?" he asked the girl as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. The long sleeves of the shirt she wore under it still covered in dirt from their time on the farm.

"Chris...are those bad people dead?" she asked rather bluntly.

Chris sighed, "We didn't kill them, they could have escaped when the walkers started storming the place...but there's no way of knowing for sure, sweetheart. But I have a feeling they won't be in any shape to come after us ever again."

"That's good..." she shuffled a bit. "You were scary back there. When you were fighting Andy."

The fighter knelt down to her level. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. I was angry, and scared. They were planning on killing us and had no remorse for it, and I don't want to think about the number of others they had hurt. I just didn't want anything to happen to anyone else."

His charge reached out and held his face with one of her hands. "It's okay. You were just trying to protect us. I'm just glad that you didn't kill him, you're not a murderer like they were."

Chris smiled when they all heard Duck speak up. "Hey dad, what's that noise?"

They all strained to hear, the sounds of animals and insects in the woods dominating the air. But through it they could make out a low 'ding-like' noise that kept repeating. "Sounds like a car..." said Kenny.

"Oh, god...not more strangers." said Ben not looking forward to encountering more people out here.

Chris moved up, Kenny on his right as they crept along the bushes on the side of the path. Coming up to a turn off that led into a small clearing where a station wagon was parked. The lights inside and out were all on and the passenger door was wide open allowing the odd noise to drift out into the night.

Holding his hand up toward the others keeping them back, the fighter called out to the car. "Hello?" his voice loud and clear as they waited for the occupants to answer. When nothing came he turned to the group, "I'm gonna move up, Mark, Lily, cover me with the rifles. Anything moves, warn me."

"I'm coming too." said Kenny but winced and held his side.

"That's the answer for that." Chris said seriously. "Your injured, hang back here, I won't be long." he turned back toward the car and started moving in closer. The noise from the open door steadily getting louder as he strained to hear anything else.

He made it to the vehicle with no trouble, peering inside he found the seats empty. Checking the dashboard, he found the gas-gauge on E. _"No one here and the tank is empty. Car must be a derelict."_ he thought removing the keys and making the noise stop.

"Oh shit..." looking up, the fighter saw Kenny at the back of the wagon looking into the tailgate. "Guys you gotta see this." he said motioning for everyone to join him.

Coming around to the back, Chris couldn't keep the smirk from his face. Contained in the abandoned car were boxes upon boxes of supplies. Food, water, medical, one open suitcase revealed boxes of bullets and there was a Beretta and a revolver among them. "Looks like our luck is changing." he commented.

"This food could save us." said Katjaa with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Not ALL of us." Lily muttered darkly. Everyone sent her a sympathetic look.

Ben walked around the car before speaking his mind, "Look, we don't know if these people are dead. We can't just take their stuff."

"If they come back, then we're just monsters who came out of the woods and ruined their lives." added Lily.

"What about those bandits?" offered Mark. "It could be theirs. And even if it isn't whose to say they won't come around and take everything themselves? We're in pretty desperate need right now."

"This stuff isn't ours." Everyone looked at Clementine who spoke her thoughts.

"Dad...who's car is this?" asked Duck looking up at his father.

Kenny shook his head, "Don't worry about that son, it's ours now."

"It's abandoned, Duckie. Don't worry." added Katjaa.

"But what if it's not?" asked Clementine, "What if it's not abandoned? What if it IS someone's?"

Kenny sent a look Chris' way, everyone else seemed to do the same leaving him the swing vote over what they should do. The fighter looked at all the supplies, things that they needed to keep surviving. It was a hard call. All the evidence points to the fact that the car COULD BE abandoned.

There wasn't hardly anything left for them back at the motor inn, they wouldn't all last a week. If they didn't take this they'd be in trouble. But if they did, and the people who actually owned it came back...they'd be the ones in trouble.

After several minutes of weighing the pros and cons of what could come of this, he made his choice. _"God...I hope you can forgive me for this."_ He turned to his charge. "Clem...we need to take this stuff."

"But it's not ours, why do we need to take it?" asked his charge a little upset at the decision.

"Because we need it, I'm not saying that it's right, but when it comes down to it it's for the sake of survival." Chris knelt down and gently held her shoulders, "I know you're upset, baby-girl. But if we don't take it, then someone else will. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do because its important." he explained.

Clementine looked to the ground, nodding slowly as he stood back up and unlocked the hatch with the keys he pulled from the ignition. Kenny helped him take out the boxes and pass them out to others to be carried back to the motor in until everyone put Duck and Clementine had a box.

When the compartment was empty, the fighter looked down and managed to find a small, red Brooklyn hoodie that looked like it would fit his charge. "Here Clem, it's going to get colder out here." he said handing it to her.

She shook her head, "But, it's not mine."

"I know, but think of it as you're holding on to it until we find the real owner. Okay?" he said in return. The girl accepted it hesitantly as he closed the hatch, tossing the keys into the passenger seat with a solumn expression before joining the others. A bit of guilt eating at his stomach, but given their situation they didn't have many options open to them.

"Hey," Carley spoke up as she pulled something from one of the boxes they had. "I found these batteries when we were going through the supplies. I think they might work in that little camcorder that you found." she took out a few more and handed them out to Clementine, "Here, you can have some too...for you're walkie-talkie."

"Sure you can handle these? You're not known to be very savvy with batteries." The fighter said smirking as he took the batteries, pulling out the small device at the same time as he put them into place.

The reporter shook her head with her cheeks warming while she remembered the incident with the radio months prior, "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Nope." he replied simply as he got the batteries in place and switched the camcorder on. A video started playing immediately and he felt his heart still in his chest. "...what the fuck?" Carley looked over his shoulder and gasped.

X

 _The outside of the motor inn could be seen clearly through a bunch of trees, the group milling about and going about their business. Completely unaware that they were being observed from afar._

 _Chris and Kenny could be seen pushing a car down the road in front of the inn, Mark and Larry moving a couch out from one of the rooms while Carley stood on look out._

 _The image suddenly changed to the inside of a tent, the camera falling to the ground as a woman was screaming. "JAKE, BART, LINDA and ALL YA'LL FUCKIN' SICKOS FROM THE SAVE-LOTS! THEY CALL YA'LL BANDITS! BUT YOU'RE FUCKING RAPIST MONSTE-"_

 _Things shifted back to the motor inn...on the day that the group met the St. Johns brothers. The camera zoomed in on Clementine as a woman began speaking. "Oh darlin', baby. Look at you. Look. At. You. Oh, you need a mama, sweetheart. We won't let them bandits get you, will we darlin'?"_

 _Chris walked around the front of the RV while he was passing out food when his charge got up to greet him. "How's everything going Clem?" he asked smiling._

 _"Okay." she replied._

 _"Where's you're hat? You never leave the room without it." said her guardian ruffling her hair._

 _She shrugged, "I don't know. Can you help me find it?"_

 _Chris nodded, "Sure thing, sweetheart. When did you lose it?"_

 _"I had it a couple of days ago."_

 _The rest of the conversation was cut off, the camera spun around revealing Jolene's haggard face. " Ya'll thinkin' you're safe, sittin' there actin' like things are the way they used to be. The dead don't kill their own. It's the living you gotta be afraid of...the people I used to call friends...the people who took..." she winced._

 _"Don't worry, little girl. Bandits got their eye on that dairy. As long as they keep getting food from them, you'll be safe. I promise." The footage cut out and the screen went black._

X

Lowering the camera, Chris tossed it on to his bed. He'd watched it three times since they had gotten back to the motor inn. Trying to find some sort of clue or reason behind why Jolene had been targeting them like that.

The woman had obviously been disturbed, something those bandits had done to her having messed her up so bad that she was acting the way she did. But her message in the recording was painstakingly clear, one that he should have known since the beginning of this little odyssey of his.

 _"Fight the Dead...Fear the living."_

He sighed, running a hand down his face and rubbing his eyes. Glancing over at Clementine's bed, he found the girl asleep. She'd been out the moment her head hit the pillow, her new hoodie fitting well over her small frame and keeping her warm as she curled underneath the blankets.

Her face was twisted into a grimace, soft whimpers coming from her closed lips as she seemed to be facing a nightmare.

The fighter rose from his bed, moving over to hers and sitting down next to her. Taking her hat from her head and setting it on the bedpost closest to them before running his hand gently over her hair.

"It's okay, Sweetheart." he said as she started to calm down. "Nothing's going to hurt you as long as I'm here."

Clementine shifted a little closer to him in her sleep, whole body seeming to relax by his presence. "...daddy..." she said lowly making Chris' movements pause. The one word striking something deep within him that left him stunned.

Another sigh left his lips, patting her head a few more times before standing again. Grabbing his denim 'walker-armor' jacket and pulling it on before stepping out on to the balcony outside their room to get some fresh air.

It was still dark out, the sun would start peeking over the trees very soon, casting a warm autumn glow over the place that they had called home.

They'd taken all the supplies they had found on the way back and stored them in the spare room down in the lower part of the motel between Mark's and Lily's rooms. It was an impressive collection, and they'd all be alright for a long while with what there was.

Though there was still mixed feelings about it amongst the group. Kenny, Katjaa, Carley and Mark all agreed that taking the stuff was for the best. But Ben and Lily were still highly against it.

Chris knew that no matter which way he went on the issue someone would be pissed about it, and it wasn't an easy choice to make.

But in the end, he'd chosen to do what was best for his group. And he'd bare the sins on his soul for what he had decided. Clementine hadn't been too thrilled about it either, hadn't really spoken to him since they got back. He hoped that she'd forgive him someday and understand why he had chosen to take the supplies.

Yawning, he leaned against the railing and looked off into the distance at the stars as the clouds finished clearing overhead. The fighter hadn't slept all night, his body ached a bit from the confrontations he had been in at the farm. _"Gotta get back to training, been too lax with that lately."_ he thought, rolling his shoulders to releave some of the tension in them.

His gaze drifted down to the parking lot below, his eyes widening when he saw Kenny, Mark, Carley, Lily and Katjaa all sitting in the various chairs they had set out in a circle around a small fire.

"Guess I'm not the only one not able to sleep." he said to himself before heading down to the parking lot. The closer he got, the clearer the conversation they were having became.

"It's the right choice Lily." Kenny growled at the woman across from him.

"I don't care what YOU think is the right choice." Lily hissed back. "You can't just up and change everything just because things seem at their worst."

"It's not just his decision." Carley spoke up. "We ALL have come to this decision, you just refuse to accept it."

Lily stood up and stormed off toward her room, "You're all making a mistake in doing this." she said over her shoulder at them. Chris watched her go with a raised eyebrow before approaching the circle and making himself known.

"Chris? You're up?" asked Katjaa as he sat down in Lily's empty seat.

"Can't be up if I never went down." he replied leaning back and staring into the fire. "I miss anything important?"

There was silence for a few brief moments before Mark spoke. "We were all talking about something pretty important." the fighter looked his way, wondering what had been on their minds. "After what happened...back at the farm, we thought that there should be some changes."

Kenny nodded, "And the first thing that we needed to do was find someone who would put the needs of this group ahead of everything else. Someone who would make the right decisions and face the hard choices that none of us have ever been able to make."

All eyes went on the fighter and he knew right then and there what they were referring to. "Are you telling me that you all..." he trailed off as the group nodded.

"We had a vote." said Carley, "And we agreed that you should be the leader of this group."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Chris muttered a couple of curses under his breath. "Why?" he asked looking back up at them. "Why me? What makes you believe that I would be any better at looking after things than Kenny or Lily?"

"Your quick thinking has gotten us out of more trouble than we can possibly recall." said Katjaa. "If it wasn't for you, none of us would have escaped the dairy."

"And you've proven time and time again that you know what you're doing." added Mark. "Whether it's dealing with the walkers, or handling stuff here with the group. Everyone always feel safer when you're the one watching out for us. Christ, I would have DIED back when the bandits attacked if you hadn't come up with that plan so fast."

"And you're instincts were right on the money with what was happening back there." said Kenny. "Not to mention you saved Duck and Kat...AGAIN, because you put their lives ahead of your own. I can't tell you how much that means to us."

Chris bit his lip, mulling over their words as he tried to find something to say about it all. Carley reached out and held his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Chris, I know that this is a lot to take in. We're not telling you to just jump right into it, take some time to think. But this group...we need someone that we KNOW will do what's right. And thus far, you've never led us wrong."

He sighed, "That's not what has me so undecided." looking to each of them, he explained. "I have my hands full making sure that Clementine is okay. Taking care of eight other people on top of that?" he shook his head. "Up till this point I believed that I had some kind of lucky streak that got me this far, I can't help but think that at some point my luck will run out."

"I'm not perfect, guys. Do you realize that? If I start leading this group, I'm going to be making decisions that will affect us all. Some of them you won't like, and some of them you may question whether or not you made the right choice. Can you honestly tell me that you're that willing to put your lives into the hands of someone like me?"

It was the ultimate question that summed everything up. Chris knew that his knowledge could help them with anything that they needed. He was good at what he was able to do, the past three months proving that he could do whatever it took to survive this infested hell of a world as well as keep his young charge safe.

But to be the LEADER of their little band of survivors? That was something else entirely.

It wouldn't just be Clementine he would be responsible for. All the people at the motor inn would look to him when things got bad, that kind of pressure was something he wasn't familiar with and it made him a bit hesitant that they were all willing to hand over that kind or responsibility that easily.

However...he'd never backed down from a challenge before in his life. And if they really wanted him to lead things, he'd just have to take it one step at a time. But he needed to be sure that this was what they really wanted.

So he waited as the others thought long and hard on his words. Carefully going over what they knew before coming to their answer.

"Yes." said Kenny sending a look of conviction his way.

"I can too." added Katjaa.

"Same here." said Mark.

"Me as well." finished Carley with a nod and a smile.

The fisherman sat up straighter as he looked at his friend, "And it's not just luck that got you this far, friend. For someone as young as you to be able to pull off half the shit you've done, plus taking good care of that little girl, there's gotta be something special about you that got you here."

The fighter looked around the circle before going back to the fire. "I'm gonna need some time to think on this. Give me until the sun starts to set later today, and I'll let you all know." he got acknowledgements all around as they all settled in and started talking about what their next step should be now that they had supplies.

Mark was still pretty dead-set on staying now that they had supplies. But Kenny, Katjaa and Carley had all agreed that the place was still pretty exposed and they needed to move on sooner or later. There was no telling if there were more people like the St. Johns or the bandits still roaming around Macon.

Chris half-listened to the conversation as he continued to think about the choice of whether or not to be head of the group. It was an important job and he couldn't make take this lightly. If anything happened to anyone it was on him and no one else. If they ran out of food again, water, medical supplies, or anything else it'd be his job to try and find out how they could get more.

Hours had slipped by, the sky started to get a little lighter with the coming morning. By that point everyone had decided to turn in and see if they could get at least a little more sleep before they had to be up and start another day.

Kenny patted Chris on the shoulder as he and Kat went to the room they shared with Duck. Mark doing the same before disappearing into his room while the fighter began trudging his way up the stairs to his own. Stumbling a bit because of fatigue finally settling in.

His mind still turning over the discussion he had with the others as he re-entered his and Clementine's room. Shedding his jacket and hanging it up before flopping down on his bed, allowing his body to relax as sleep rose up to claim him.

"...Chris?" the fighter's eyes snapped open and he sat up, sleep forgotten momentarily as he turned to see Clementine looking back at him.

"Hey, sweetheart." he said back, his voice groggy but still clear. "You okay?"

The girl bit her lip and hugged herself, "I...I had a bad dream...about the dairy."

Chris' heart clenched, he shuffled aside offering more space. Clementine got up and climbed into his bed, curling up into his side as he wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. "Want to talk about it?"

His charge shook her head, burrowing her face into his shoulder, "C-Can I sleep here?" she mumbled.

The fighter smiled and rubbed her back, "Of course, baby-girl. I'll keep the bad dreams away." he said as he settled his head back.

Clementine raised her head when she heard Chris snoring softly. Smiling when she saw that he was asleep, she leaned up and kissed his cheek before curling back into his side and drifting off as well. Feeling safe from the horrible world outside as her guardian held her protectively.

X

 _He couldn't understand where he was, everything was pure chaos. Gunfire and explosions ripped through the air, rounds peppered the grass and kicking up dirt all around him as he rolled out of harms way and hid behind an old barrel used for water._

 _Beretta in hand, he fired on the ones shooting at him and the others. Managing to take down two assailants before being forced to go back into cover so he could reload. Vaguely hearing someone shouting his name, looking back toward the building he saw Clementine screaming before a burst of pain erupted on his right shoulder._

 _A stray bullet tearing through his arm and sending him spiraling to the ground, blood staining the grass as he attempted to drag himself back to safety. He barely got four feet when a heavy boot kicked him in the side, flipping him over so that he was facing the sky where a sinister figure glared down at him._

 _One eye covered with an eye-patch, the other filled with murder and madness as he aimed a revolver at his head. "You don't belong here." he said clearly over the firefight going on around them just before the gun discharged._

X

Chris snapped awake in a cold sweat, breath coming out in short gasps as his heart rate slowly started to return to normal.

He'd been having dreams similar to this for the last month, each one more realistic than the last to the point that it was hard to tell that they were even dreams. And every one having the same outcome toward the end.

At first he believed that he was reliving moments in the Walking Dead universe from what he remembered watching back at home. But over time it was harder to put belief in that. They almost felt like premonitions, visions of things to come in the near future if things continue a certain way.

On more than one occasion he had once wondered if he could change things for the better when the time came. But after a while it became apparent that the chances of him even encountering the group from Atlanta that would call the prison home was between slim and nill. And he couldn't focus on something like that when his own situation was too important to divert his attention.

"Chris?" the fighter snapped his attention to the door of the room where Clementine was standing in the threshold. "Are you okay? You were moving a lot in your sleep."

Chris ran a hand through his sweat-soaked hair, "I'm fine, just a couple bad dreams. That's all." he said, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and sitting upright. "What time is it?"

Clementine came over and sat on her bed across from him, "It's lunch time. I didn't want to wake you up when I did, Kenny told me I should let you sleep some more." she paused a moment. "Duck told me that his parents want you to be our group's leader. That everyone voted and want you to take care of everything."

The fighter nodded, "Yeah. We talked about it last night while you guys were sleeping."

"Are you going to do it?" he looked over at her to see an imploring look in her eyes.

"Maybe," Chris said with a shrug. "It's a big responsibility."

Clementine played with the hem of her new hoodie, "But, you do a good job of it already." she looked up at him, "You listen to everyone, you help people when they need it, and you do whatever it takes to protect others. You take good care of me, I know you can do the same for everyone else."

Giving the girl a smile before ruffling her hair through her hat, Chris replied. "Good to know I've got such a strong cheering section. So you really think I can do this?"

His charge nodded anxiously, "Yes. And I know everyone will be there for you."

 _"Everyone but Lily, apparently."_ he couldn't help but think after seeing her storm off the night before when they all had talked about it. "Where is everyone else?"

"Down in the parking lot, I came up here to check on you." Clementine replied.

Chris nodded as he got up and got his jacket, "Well, let's not keep them waiting." Clementine nodded as the they left the room and headed down where everyone was gathered around the picnic table they had set up and having a small lunch. Lily was in her spot on the RV acting as lookout as they joined them.

Kenny was the first to notice them and nodded, "Bout time you got up, rough sleep?" he asked as Clementine sat down across from him beside Duck.

"You can say that." the fighter replied while he took a spot next to Clementine, grabbing a couple of energy bars from the table and starting to eat.

"Did you think about what we talked about last night?" asked Mark from his spot by Katjaa.

Looking toward his charge who gave him a thumbs up and a smile of encouragement, he turned to the group before standing. "I have." Everyone stopped what they were doing and gave him their full attention.

"You gotta understand my hesitance with an immediate answer. With everything going on around us rash decisions aren't good, and after what happened the other day...I really needed to think on it before deciding."

Squaring his shoulder, he looked at each person around him. People that would be counting on him and depending on his strength to carry them through this hell and hopefully to a good sanctuary.

The only people that he had come to rely on in these past few months, ones who had slowly started becoming like a family to him.

"I still think I might not be the right person to do this...but if you all think I have the capability," he smirked, "Then I'll do my goddamn best to be sure that we make it through this bullshit." The whole group let out a collective breath and grinned widely.

Kenny coming up and patting him on the shoulder, "You're gonna do fine, friend. There ain't no one better I'd have getting us out of hell then you." Katjaa nodded, reaching across the table and squeezing his hand in reassurance.

"So what do we do?" asked Mark as they finished up.

Chris paused, eyes locked on the table as he began going through what he knew and what they had. "We need to catalog our supplies, figure out if we have everything we need for the time being. Then we need to plot our next course."

"Next course?" asked Ben confused.

"We can't stay here much longer." said the fighter as he looked around their current 'home'. "It's far too exposed, and when those bandits out in the woods find out that the farm is no longer inhabited they'll come looking for another place to get what they want...and sadly, I think we're probably the only ones still alive in or around Macon."

Kenny snorted, "I'm still pretty sure that we can handle these punks." he winced and held his side when his wound flared up.

"And there would be the answer to that." said Chris shaking his head, "We're in no shape to handle a fight with these guys. Desperate people are by far the most dangerous kind. We don't have enough weapons and ammo to handle them and the walkers should they come knocking, and it's only a matter of time before they do."

"So what is the plan?" asked Carley now curious.

The fighter looked over at the RV, "As soon as the RV is fully repaired, we head toward Savannah." he turned his attention to Kenny. "You said a while back you're a commercial fisherman? We'll locate a boat that's still operational that can take all of us and head out into the water, travel along the coast and avoid land altogether along with the walkers."

Everyone looked to one another before going back to Chris. "It sounds good to me." said Kenny. "But then what? Can't stay off land forever."

"We'll go farther North and find a place away from the cities, establish our own sanctuary." he explained. "We have no way of knowing how long this will last, right now it's all a matter of survival. And staying in one place too long when we don't have the proper defenses is a mistake, so for right now movement equals survival."

Clementine pulled on his sleeve getting his attention, "If we're going to Savannah, we can find my parents. Right?" she asked with hope in her eyes.

Chris nodded and smiled, "We'll look for them, Clem. I promise. But right now we need to make sure we're ready for the trip. Which brings us to the next thing I want to talk about." he looked toward Kenny and Katjaa, "I want to start teaching the kids a little self-defense. With recent events, I think it would be best for them to know how to handle themselves if something happens again."

"Does that mean we're gonna learn to fight? Cool!" exclaimed Duck in excitement.

"You think that's a good idea?" asked Mark a little unsure.

"It is when we know that these two know who to hold their own if we get separated." the fighter said getting a nod from Katjaa.

"If it ensures that Duck is safe, then I am all for it."

Kenny agreed as well, "Same here," he said looking at his son, "Be sure to pay attention to everything Chris shows you, son. This is important." Duck bounced in his seat ready to get started while Clementine smiled at her guardian

With that bit out of the way, Chris looked over at Ben who's back straightened. "Ben, since you've technically been inducted into this group, you'll be expected to pull your own weight. That includes helping out around here and learning how to deal with walkers. You'll be joining Clem and Duck in what I have to teach, is that understood?"

The teen nodded hesitantly, jumping when Kenny slapped him on the back. "Well, better get to it then." said the fisherman as he stood up and looked toward the fighter. "Ready when you are, boss."

Chris stood as well as they moved about the inn and got to work. From her position, Lily shook her head disdainfully as she went back to her sentry duty.

 ** _A/N: Not all decisions are easy to make. But in the end, if the choice falls down to giving up a part of your morals for the sake of keeping yourself and others alive the answer comes to you rather quickly. However, all actions have consequence..._**

 ** _With Chris elected as leader, things will start to change in a big way...but they won't change nearly as much with what's coming next. So stay tuned._**


	9. A Familiar Face

_**A/N: Started playing Dying Light not too long ago, and I gotta say, it's fun as hell and I've got a long list of ideas for this story given the content. Needless to say, I got new additions all lined up for the coming future.**_

 _ **But for now, I think the chapter I have lined up will be more than sufficient for those who have been keeping close tabs on the story. And I'm always aim to please.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead**_

The streets of Macon were silent. Considering that the residents of the small town were no longer a part of the living it was to be expected. But to anyone sneaking through the small alley's and around what had once been thriving streets, it was appreciated.

Keeping to the shadows to avoid any walkers that could have been laying in wait for something to come his way, Chris raised his bow, arrow pulled back and ready as he searched for movement.

It had been a week since the incident at the St. Johns farm and when the fighter had assumed his role as leader of their group. In that time there had been significant changes with the survivors.

They had split up their supplies evenly in half, some being kept in the designated storage room they had and the rest being sealed in the RV just incase. In addition, Chris had kept to his word about teaching Clementine and Duck self-defense.

Having the kids doing light exercises to increase their stamina and endurance in the morning, then moving on to finding the proper style they they could be trained in.

He could immediately tell that Duck was a brawler type, but also light on his feet. So he started to teach him a bit of kickboxing to increase his speed and strength.

Clementine, was a lot more nimble and quick, so judo with a mix of muai tai was the best for her. Both taking to it rather quickly and with enthusiam. More often then naught, the adults would watch them all train with rapt attention at various parts of the day.

Ben had been a different story, the teen wasn't used to fighting in any context so Chris had to go from the ground up with him. Teaching him a few techniques for close quarters and giving him a crash course in how to deal with walkers.

Save for the amped up training regiment, the other thing that had changed, which was more or less expected, was that the bandits had come knocking at their boarders.

Without warning one day, a handful began firing at them from the treeline forcing them to fight back. Chris, Mark, Lily, Carley and Kenny fighting back while the others took refuge.

The first confrontation resulted in the death of three bandits. But ever since the survivors had been on pins and needles, beefing up watch shifts and staying on guard more often then before while pushing twice as hard to repair the RV and get out of town before something worse happened.

That was what prompted the impromptu trip to Macon. Chris had managed to get a timing belt that worked on the RV from one of the trucks at the motel, but they were still missing a carborator to get the large vehicle running again.

Remembering that there were a couple of auto repair shops in town, along with a small parts store, the fighter gathered what he needed and set out toward town on his own. Granted, there was a bit of argument regarding him going alone with the walkers roaming around and the bandits stalking them, but he stuck by the fact that they needed all the people they could defending their boarders and that he would be faster on his own.

Everyone else was hesitant, but trusted his decision as he set out early that morning.

Seeing the street clear from his position, Chris moved out into the open, weapon up as he moved toward his destination. Staying low to the ground as he stopped at the edge of a building and peered out again.

The fighter swept his eyes over the vacant buildings and derelict cars around him. He'd already hit up the repair shop on the outer edge of Macon and came up empty, his next stop was the parts store. And if he remembered the layout of the town right, there was one a block or two from the pharmacy where everyone met months ago.

He checked the boarded up windows, looking into the shadows within and not seeing any movement before pushing onward. The pharmacy coming into view moments later.

At some point in the last few months, the military must have come through and found themselves in a bad spot. A helicopter had crashed through the roof of the building, debris scattered everywhere in the street blocking the entrance and the sides of the building itself were scorched from the fires that had raged. A damaged jeep was parked out front and an eighteen wheeler's trailer was blocking off the street that led to the back of the pharmacy.

"Up and over." said the fighter softly to himself as he grabbed the ladder and began to climb up. Eyes scanning every building and alley as he did so, finding everything just as quiet as when he arrived.

Grabbing the ledge above and pulling himself up on top, Chris did a final check of the area before dropping down to the other side.

The moment his boots hit the asphalt of the street, a light shuffling to his right had him looking toward the cab of the large truck he had just climbed over. Finding the driver hanging out by his waist from the open door, rotting fingers reaching out to grab at him while the seatbelt was wrapped around them keeping the now walker in place.

Lowering his bow, Chris reached back and pulled out his knife as he appoached. Sidestepping the limbs, he stabbed the blade into the walker's temple, effectively silencing it as he yanked the weapon free and wiped it off on the undead's tattered clothes.

Putting the knife away and holding his bow ready again, the fighter found the shop he was looking for. The front windows and double doors, like most of the buildings in town, were boarded up to keep people from getting in...or infected from getting out.

With the main entrance a no go, Chris moved down the alley between the building and the one neighboring it. Treading lightly around the trash cans and debris scattered about while making sure that he didn't step on any bodies that could have been hidden.

Finding the emergeny exit at the far end of the alley that led into the store, the fighter slung his bow over his shoulder before drawing his pistol. A homemade silencer attached to the barrel to suppress any gunshots as he tried the handle of the door.

Locked.

Taking a couple steps back, Chris checked around him briefly before bringing his foot up and kicking where the door latch was located. There was a loud metallic bang when his boot made contact with the surface, followed by another as the door swung hard inside and impacted a wall behind it.

Staying motionless, the fighter swept his weapon from the opening to the alley he had just come down. Waiting for several beats incase something came out to greet him.

When nothing happened, he released a calm breath before slowly entering the store. Pulling his knife back out in his free hand and he held it upside down next to his pistol as he scanned the dark interior.

What little sunlight that shined through the cracks in the large boards covering the windows did little to illumintate the store, but at least it wasn't pitch black.

Straining both his ears, and his eyes, Chris moved slowly forward into what looked to be the storage room. Dozens of shelves lined the walls, some covered in boxes that held all kinds of auto parts.

Break pads, spark plugs, mufflers, components for transmissions and radiators. Everything a mechanic would need to put any vehicle back together.

"Luck just might be on my side." he said to himself as he started looking through the boxes. Remembering the size and specifics for the carborator he needed as he moved from shelf to shelf.

The room looked mostly untouched, and the parts looked to be organized depending on the make and model of vehicle. Moving toward the far back of the room where the bigger parts were located, he found a shelf rack specifically for carborators.

Chris immediately started going through the boxes. "Too small...too big...serial number doesn't match...wrong shape..." he muttered as he went through every part until he picked up a box in the way back behind several others. Taking out the engine part, he looked it over with a careful eye.

It was the right size and shape, but he needed to be sure before thinking about heading back.

Setting his weapons down, he went through his pack and pulled out the old, damaged carborator he had taken from the RV. Comparing the two parts, the fighter grinned when he saw that they were a match. And when he saw the serial numbers matched up he stuffed the new part into his pack without thinking twice.

He'd just finished zipping his bag up when his ears perked at the sound of movement. But instead of the shuffling gait of a walker, he heard the slow, almost cautious steps of a living person.

Slowly reaching over and grabbing his pistol and knife, Chris swung around and aimed back at the door he had come through where someone stood in the opening. The light outside shrouding them and making it hard to see what they looked like.

"Hey!" he shouted, the person jumped, spun around and bolted. The fighter was up and after them, sprinting out into the street and looking in every direction for any sign of the stranger.

A sudden clattering echoed from the direction of the drug store and he went that way, going around to where the back entrance was in time to see the door close. _"I got you."_ the fighter thought as he opened the door and crept inside.

The darkened storage room greeted him, the walls cracked and debris scattered everywhere from the helicopter crash. But thankfully, the store itself was still standing.

Closing the door gently behind him, Chris raised his pistol and started looking for any sign of the peron he had been chasing. Moving a toppled shelf back upright with his shoulder as he went to check the pharmacy itself. Standing in the open doorway, his eyes flickered to all of the shelves, not many places to hide, but it was the only place for anyone to go in such a short amount of time.

Taking a gently step into the section, his eyes snapped downward when he saw a pill bottle come rolling out from behind the shelves in the far back. The fighter smirked as he raised his pistol in that direction.

"I know you're there." he said loud enough for whoever it was to hear. "Come out with your hands up. No bullshit."

There was a long pause, and for a moment Chris thought he'd have to go and check for himself. Until a pair of hands reached out into the open.

The fighter tensed, finger firm over the trigger as the person stood up and stepped out from where they had been hiding...his eyes widened, the gun nearly falling from his hand when he saw the last person he expected to see.

Brown, short-cut hair disheavled, face and clothes dirty, but the bright green eyes and beautiful face he remembered from months ago was unmistakeable.

"Maggie?!" Chris gasped as the farmer girl revealed herself.

Maggie Greene looked just as surprised as he did, her raised hands dropped to her sides as a smile stretched across her lips. "...Chris." she breathed out before all but sprinting forward. Crashing into Chris' front and enveloping him in a vice-grip embrace as she sobbed with relief into his shoulder.

Handgun clattering to the floor, the fighter hugged her back. Still very much suprised at seeing her here of all places, but very glad at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" he asked when they pulled away from one another, wiping a bit of dirt from her cheek. "What happened?"

Maggie clenched her eyes, tears slipping down her face. "...G-Gone...it's all gone..." she stuttered before looking up at him. The icy chill of dread slipped into Chris' stomach, wondering what the hell had happened.

X

Some time later, the duo was set up in the backroom of the drug store. Using what remained of the furniture as a means to relax, Chris pulling out some food rations he had carried with him along with bottled water.

Maggie was thankful as they sat down together. Now that she was calm enough, she began telling him what had happened on her family farm.

How a group from Atlanta had arrived a month after Chris, Clementine and Kenny's family had left. A little boy in their group had been shot by accident and was brought to their door where Hershel had helped. And after much convincing on the part of the one leading the group, the old farmer allowed them to stay on the property.

For Chris, it was all something he already knew. She explained, almost incident to incident, the events that had happened during season two of the series. Everything right down to the walker horde that attacked the farm forcing everyone to flee.

But that was when things changed.

When she fled, she'd been cornered by a smaller group of undead and was separated from her father and little sister.

Her mother had died when the walkers invaded. Her brother Shawn, who had fought tooth and nail to ensure that his family and the other survivors made it out of there alive, had been taken down before he had a chance.

Maggie had been forced to go off on her own, running and hiding for a day before winding up in Macon that morning.

The fighter hugged her again when she finished her story. In the span of one day she had lost her mother, her brother, and her home to the walkers, while her father and sister were MIA. He understood how much she was going through and offered what comfort he could.

For Maggie, after all of the horror that she had bore witness to she was beyond happy to see a familiar face that wasn't deceased. Being in his arms, taking in his warmth and comfort, the southern-belle felt safe for what felt like a long time.

And, if she were completely honest with herself, Maggie truly missed Chris and Clementine when they left with the others that day.

She found the fighter very attractive when they had met, and seeing him go out of his way to protect the little girl he had taken under his care showed that he had a good heart. Then there was the incident where he had saved both Shawn and Duck back on the farm, the bravery he showed without a second of hesitation. He had a great deal of good qualities.

When they had left, Maggie had been crestfallen at never being able to see them again. Then a month later the other group arrived on the farm.

There had been a young Korean man named Glenn with them that showed interest in her, but she just didn't feel the same and let him down gently...she never thought that after all this time she'd meet Chris again, yet here he was, holding her.

Breaking the embrace, Chris told her the events that followed when he and Clementine had left the farm. Meeting with the rest of their group at this very drug store, relocating to the motel on the outside of town, then the incident with the St. Johns a week ago.

Maggie had been horrified. She knew the St. Johns, her father and Brenda had actually been good friends. To know that what was happening to the world around them would drag that family to cannibalism was beyond words. But she was thankful that Chris and his group managed to get away.

"I guess we both have been through a lot." said Maggie after a long silence passed between them.

"And then some." Chris added as he finished the water in the bottle in his hand. "I'm sorry, about your home and family. I wish I could offer you more than words." he said gently.

The farmer girl smiled at him, "It's just really good to see you again, and knowing that you and Clementine are doing okay." she put her hands together and sighed, "So, what happens now?"

"We get back to the motel." said the fighter, "I got the part for the RV that we need, no reason to stick around." he smiled back at her, "That, and I think a couple other people would love to see you again."

"It won't be a problem, will it?" Maggie couldn't help but ask.

Chris shook his head, "Not a chance. Besides, I lead the group now. And there's no way in hell I'm leaving you out here alone if I have anything to say about it."

A blush dusted the young woman's face as they got up, Chris collecting his bag and weapons before pausing. "Do you know how to dispatch walkers?" he asked.

"I've...taken care of a couple." she admitted a little hesitantly.

The fighter took out his handgun and handed it to her handle first, "Stay close and follow my lead. The town was pretty quiet when I came in, but there's no telling how many walkers are hiding around."

Maggie accepted the gun, holding it with both hands as she gave a shakey nod Chris' way. He nodded back before approaching the exit leading out the back of the store. His bow at the ready as he nudged the door open and peered outside.

"Looks clear, we should-"

Gunfire suddenly erupted. The fighter jumped back as bullets peppered the metal door and the surrounding brick, grabbing Maggie and pulling her down behind an overturned desk when a few rounds went through the door and into the room.

"YA MADE A MISTAKE COMIN' 'ROUND HERE FUCKERS!" someone shouted from outside. "YOU GONNA PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO OUR PALS!"

"Fuck." Chris cursed as he sat up and glared at the bullet riddled door. "The damn bandits must have been passing through and saw us here."

"What are we going to do?" asked Maggie, clutching the gun in her hands tighter, "Is there another way out?"

The fighter nodded, "Yeah. There's a covered hole in the wall through the main store front me and the others used to get in and out the last few times we came through here." Keeping low, he moved across the floor to the door that led out to the main room.

Motioning for the young woman to follow him, she crept along and crouched at his side as he pushed the door open and slipped into the store.

The whole room looked like a complete wreck. The cockpit of the helicopter that crashed through the building dominated the center. All of the shelves were crushed beneath not only the copter, but from the amount of debris that crashed down along with it.

"YA'LL CAN'T HIDE IN THERE FOREVER! WE'LL GET YOU! AND THOSE OTHER FUCKERS AT THAT LITTLE MOTEL OF YOURS!" the bandit outside shouted.

 _"Morons are going to bring the dead down on us. Need to get out of here and fast."_ Chris thought as he and Maggie carefully moved through the store to the only other way out.

Making it halfway, the fighter was cut off when a walker came stumbling out of the crashed helicopter. The helmet on its head and the bloodied uniform revealing it to be the the pilot as it growled ferally and shambled at him.

Chris ducked under the grasping hands and kicked it in the sternum, the walker stumbling back from the blow allowing the young man to kick it again in the stomach. Dropping his bow, he reached back and pulled out his knife, he then grabbed the walker's helmet and forced it back enough to get a clean shot before stabbing up through it's jaw into it's brain.

When the corpse went still, Chris pulled the blade free and laid the body down so that it didn't make any noise. Turning back to see Maggie's wide-eyed expression, he motioned to the far wall with his head, "Shall we?" he asked while picking up his bow.

Snapping her out of her daze, the duo reached the wall where the fighter removed a metal sheet that was covering the hole that led outside.

Squeezing through first, Chris went to stand when he felt the barrel of a gun pressed to the side of his head.

"Where you think you're goin' shithead?" the one holding the gun grunted. His outfit a dirty and torn camo hunting suit with a black skull cap and a mask covering the lower half of his face. "Drop the bow and get the fuck up."

Chris remained motionless, glancing back at the hole he had come through and saw Maggie frozen in place on the other side.

The gun dug harder into his skull, "Don't fuckin' think about it!" the bandit hissed. "Drop the fuckin' bow!"

Doing as he was told, the fighter raised his hands as he slowly rose upward. When he was above a crouching position, he saw the bandit lower his weapon a bit...that was a mistake.

Without warning Chris lashed out. Grabbing the barrel of the rifle that had been aimed at him and jerked it to the side before slamming his other hand into the man's throat. The sudden attack stunning the bandit and causing him to release his weapon in order to grab his now aching windpipe as he tried to gasp in air.

With the rifle not in his hands, Chris spun it around and slammed the butt of it into the bandit's face. Knocking him to the ground where he hammered him again and again until the man went still.

All of the noise had attracted the other bandits that had been on the other side of the 18-wheeler. Three of them appearing on the roof of the trailer that quickly noticed the fighter standing over their dead comrade, all of them raising their weapons to cut him down.

Chris brought the rifle, which was a military issued M16, around and squeezed the trigger. The weapon rattled loudly against his shoulder as a spray of bullets flew through the air. A couple of rounds got one of the bandits in the chest and knocked him back, while another took one to the shoulder which spun him around and sent him pitching over the edge of the trailer and hitting the ground below.

The remaining bandit dropped low, firing his pistol and forcing the fighter into cover behind the jeep near the storefront.

With a better grip on his new weapon, Chris stood up when the man stopped to reload and held it up to his eye. Using the iron sights to lock onto the bandit before pulling the trigger quickly, releasing a short burst that hit home.

A spray of blood in the air and the body toppling over all the fighter needed to know that the threat was dealt with before he moved back to the hole in the wall where Maggie had just finished pulling herself out.

"Come on! We gotta get out of here before..." he stopped when he saw rotting bodies starting to come out of the surrounding buildings. "Dammit! Run!" Chris grabbed his bow and what ammo clips he could off the dead bandit before taking the southern-belle's hand and making a b-line for the nearest alley.

A couple of the walkers shuffled after the duo, while the rest went for the recently taken down bandits.

Coming out on another street, Chris smashed the stock of the rifle into the head of a walker that lunged for him. Flipping the weapon around, he fired a couple of rounds into a couple others.

The fighter spun around, finding another walker baring down on him and reached for his knife...only for the undead's right temple to explode outward, its body falling over to the road..

Turning his eyes to a wide-eyed Maggie, who had the pistol raised, Chris sent her a grin and a nod her way before bashing another walker's head in, clearing a path for them to get away. "This way!" he called out as they started running again.

When they were safely out of town, they both stopped to catch their breath on the side of the main road.

"Safe to say I won't be going back there again." Chris said as he looked back at Macon.

"Same here," said Maggie from her spot on a nearby rock. "Who were those guys? Why were they attacking us?"

The fighter sighed, "Bandits. They cut a deal with the St. Johns, but they seem to enjoy raiding other survivors and doing god knows what to them in the process. They've been giving us problems since we escaped the dairy, which is why we're so dead set on getting the hell out of dodge when we get the chance."

He turned to the farmer girl and smiled, "Nice shot, by the way." he said, speaking about her take down of the walker back in town.

Maggie smiled and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "Given the alternative, I couldn't afford to miss." they both shared a light laugh, taking a few extra minutes to get themselves together before they started moving again.

The sun was low in the sky in the distance, evening was fast approaching. But they would be at the motel long before darkness settled.

Breathing in the crisp autumn air, Chris blinked when he felt soft warmth wrap around his hand. Looking down, he saw that Maggie's hand holding onto his, fingers threading around his own as they walked side by side.

Looking up at her curiously, Maggie just smiled. The fighter mirrored the smile back, warmth spreading from his chest as they continued their journey in silence.

X

The motor inn had seen better days after everything that has happened.

The surrounding walls that protected the survivors were covered in bullet holes and arrows from the recent attack made by the bandits. A few parts had begun to fall apart and had to be hastily repaired or what little defenses they had would fall.

Coming up the road, Chris and Maggie looked over the now temporary haven. The fighter finding Ben sitting atop the RV with a rifle in hand as he kept watch over everything. He nodding to the teen who looked curious at the new arrival as they opened the makeshift gate and stepped inside.

Chris looked over by the stairs leading up to the other rooms, he saw Clementine with her walkie-talkie in hand.

She smiled as she spoke softly into it making him tilt his head, she'd been doing that a lot the last couple days. But she was still a kid, so playing pretend with the broken device wasn't that uncommon.

The girl looked up and saw him, grinning widely as she ran over to them. "You're back!" she exclaimed happily.

"Was there any doubt?" asked her guardian with a grin of his own as he ruffled her hair through her hat and making her giggle. He once almost shoulder-length curly hair had been cut a bit shorter and was tied back in two small braids.

Carley had done it last week as a way to help her avoid being grabbed like she had back at the dairy farm. Clementine wasn't too keen on it at first, but after a while she came to like the new look.

"And I brought someone home with me." Chris added as he stepped aside to reveal Maggie to the little girl.

Clementine beamed even brighter, "Maggie!" she ran forward and hugged the older woman around the middle.

"Hey there, sweet-pea." the farmer girl said warmly as she hugged her back. "You look a little bigger since the last time I saw you."

Looking up at her, Clementine frowned a little. "Why are you here? Where's the rest of your family?"

Maggie's smile faded, the grief of what happened almost two days prior coming back to her as she tried to keep her emotions in check.

Chris was about to intervein and change the subject just when Kenny and the others came over hearing the commotion. "Hey, what's going...Maggie?" the fisherman said, shocked to see Hershel's daughter here.

"We met up in town." said the fighter, "Everyone, this is Maggie Greene. She's a good friend of Kenny and I. Figured I'd bring her home." he introduced the farmer girl to the group before he took off his pack and tossed it to Kenny who grunted when he caught it. "Found the carborator, too."

Kenny grinned, "Great! Now we can finish the RV and get the hell out of here." he said taking the part over to the large vehicle.

Katjaa came over and hugged Maggie, "It's good to see you again, sweetie. And welcome." she said kindly. Duck hugged her as well before following after his mother.

Happy to see her being welcomed so well, Chris looked down at Clementine. "I'm going to show Maggie around a bit. We'll talk a bit later, okay?"

Clementine smiled and nodded, "Okay." she turned to Maggie, "Do you want to see the pictures I drew later?"

"I'd like that a lot, sweetie." the older woman replied with another gentle smile before the little girl went off in her own direction. "It's good to see she hasn't changed since I last saw her."

"She's seen a lot...too much in certain standards." the fighter said with a deep sigh. "Come on, I'll show you a place you can rest. You look like you could use a bit of sleep."

As much as she wanted to argue, Maggie knew full well that he was right. She'd been on the move non-stop since the attack on her farm, and a little sleep sounded like a brilliant idea at the moment.

Chris led her across the parking lot toward the stairs to the second level. The fighter taking notice of Lily watching him while she leaned against the wall. A sharp glare aimed at him and Maggie before she turned and disappeared inside her room.

Deciding to deal with that later, he stopped infront of his own room and opened the door, allowing the young woman inside. "This is mine and Clementine's room. I hope you don't mind, the other rooms are all taken." he said honestly.

Maggie smiled as she took in her surroundings, "As long as you two don't mind." she said going over and sitting on his bed. "I can't thank you enough for inviting me here. I didn't know what I was going to do after..."

She trailed off and went quiet, the grief she had been fending off coming back as she put her head in her hands.

The fighter crossed the distance between them and sat beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. The southern-belle responded by putting her face into the side of his neck, her own arms wrapped around his middle as she cried silently for what she had lost.

"Hey," he said after a few minutes, "Everything's going to be okay. No matter what happenes, you got me and the others. We'll be there for you."

Maggie sniffed, leaning back and wiping at her face. "I don't know what I could possibly do to thank you."

"You don't have to." answered Chris, "Your family helped me and Clem when we needed it. I won't ever ask anything from someone who already gave us a lot."

The young woman blushed, touched at the amount of kindness she was being shown. But she somehow knew, deep down, that Chris would stay by his word. That's just the kind of person he was, and it was one of many things she really admired about him.

Looking up, her green eyes meeting his blue, Maggie leaned up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. It was a spur of the moment, and very sudden, but she felt no regret in doing so.

Chris was stunned when he felt her warm lips covering his own. The fact that it came out of nowhere threw him for a loop, but at the same time it felt so right.

The contact ended too soon for either of them, both sat staring at one another for an unknown amount of time. Neither knowing what to say to the other.

"...That...works too." the fighter eventually said, his face still burning a bit from the intimate moment he just shared with the southern-belle.

Maggie laughed lightly, her own face a nice shade of pink. A yawn soon over taking her, reminding her how tired she really was.

"I'll let you get some sleep." said Chris as he stood up, "If you need anything I'll be outside with the others."

"Thanks again, Chris." said the farmer girl as she laid back on the soft bed and got comfortable.

Heading toward the door, the fighter paused before turning around and approaching the bed again. Maggie looked at him curiously, before gasping in surprise when he leaned down and kissed her. "Now we're even." he whispered against her lips, giving her a wink before leaving the room.

Maggie looked at the closed door, a smile stretching on her face as she curled under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

 _ **A/N: And the answer to the romance pairing has been revealed. And with it, a major plot change for the entire series as a whole. And with a major character added to Chris' group, how will the events in the future change for everyone?**_

 _ **Reviews still very much welcome, and I'll have the next installment up and ready.**_


	10. The Long Road Ahead Pt1

_**A/N: Been a little while since my last update. But I think the effort is well worth it, and your patients will be well rewarded.**_

 _ **With Maggie now part of Chris' group, things are certainly going to change even more than they already have. But don't take my word for it.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead.**_

A couple hours after returning to the motel, Chris and Kenny immediately got to work on the RV. All the while the fighter told the older man what had happened back in Macon and what Maggie had told him about what had happened back on her family's farm.

Even though he was heavy hearted for what she had to go through, Chris was glad to know that at least certain events were playing out like the series back home. And he knew that Hershel and Beth would be in good hands in Rick's group.

But with Maggie somehow winding up on her own, and now with his group, he wasn't sure how much of the plot had changed. And if things would still play out the same or be different as well.

"You think she's going to be okay?" asked Kenny. His voice sympathetic toward Maggie's situation.

"Hard to say," Chris replied honestly as he tightened a few bolts on the RV's engine, "All we can do is help where we can."

The fisherman nodded as they continued to work. "What are we going to do about the bandit situation? If they cornered you in town there's no telling what they're going to do next."

"That's why we need to finish this, pack up and leave." answered the fighter. "The sooner, the better."

"I still don't see why we have to leave," the two men looked up and found Lily approaching them. "We're perfectly safe as it is."

Kenny scoffed, "Safe? If you haven't noticed, princess, but this place is the farthest from safe. Or did you miss the bullet holes and arrows sticking out of the walls outside?" he winced and held his side where his bullet wound was located.

"The decision has already been made." Chris said heading off an oncoming fight. "Everyone voted to leave, it's what's best for the kids."

"It's suicide out there!" Lily exclaimed.

"We'll die in here." Kenny fired back. "This is why you're not incharge anymore, someone needs to make these kinds of executive decisions for the group and you just weren't able to follow through."

Katjaa, Mark and Carley approached hearing the commotion. "At it again are we?" asked Carley with a shake of her head.

"But out, Carley." snapped Kenny before glaring back at Lily.

"Don't order people around, or is that the position given to you by our so-called _leader_?" asked the woman snarkly.

Chris stepped between them, "Enough." he said icily making everyone clam up. "Kenny, go take a walk. Have Kat check your wound to see if it's still clean." The older man looked to want to say something, but stalled and sighed before heading off with his wife. Mark and Carley took the que to leave as well.

The fighter turned to Lily, "Alright, enough bullshit Lily. What the hell is the problem? Ever since we got back from the dairy you've been sniping at everything and everyone. I know you're still upset over what happened to your father, I understand that. But going on like this isn't helping our group's situation."

"You want to know what my problem is?" she asked, gritting her teeth. "My problem is the fact that no one had a problem with me in charge. But the minute things started getting bad everyone turned tail and ran to the next possible person to make decisions for them."

Throwing her arms up, she stomped away a couple feet and stopped, "Don't be surprised that somewhere down the road they'll replace you at some point. It's just pathetic! Everyone can't always have it their way!"

Chris watched her rant and pace, getting out her frusterations and getting a small handle on why she had been acting the way she had while keeping his own temper in check. "I wasn't expecting to be thrust into it, Lily. But everyone believed that I can do this and I promised to do the best that I can. But I need to have everyone work together if we hope to survive this at all."

He leaned back and crossed his arms, "And as for the choice to leave, you know as well as I do that this place won't last forever. Those bandits are worse than the walkers could ever be. We won't survive if they keep attacking us."

"What I know is that we won't fair much better out there!" she shouted while rounding on him and pointing in the distance. "You think we'll last any longer leaving this place?! Are you willing to take that chance?! What kind of caretarker are you that you'd put Clementine's life in danger like that?"

What restraint Chris had on his anger broke. Taking two long strides he was right up in Lily's face. "I will die long before I let anything happen to that little girl." he said low and dangerous tone. "And as her 'caretaker', I won't let her life be put at risk making her stay somewhere with psychopaths knocking at the door when they feel like it. Especially when I don't have the means to keep her safe."

Lily took a step back, knowing that she had crossed a line with the somewhat younger man while trying to keep a stern expression. "How can you talk about keeping her safe when you're bringing more stranger's in like stray cats-"

"That woman's family helped us when things first started going to shit!" the fighter snapped. "She lost everything, like most of us. I owe her for the kindness she showed Clem and I without a second thought, and it'll be a cold day in hell that I don't help her the same way."

He turned from the woman and started working on the RV again. "You want to stay here? Fine. No one's going to make you do anything. But everyone else is leaving when this thing is done. You're either with us, or you're on your own. And if I were you, I'd make that decision and fast."

Lily stood motionless for few seconds before storming away. Slamming the door to her room loudly as she disappeared within. Chris glared at the door before returning to the engine infront of him.

After what happened at the dairy, he'd been doing all in his power to remain patient with Lily's random outbursts and overall negativity. He couldn't truly blame her for acting that way, she'd been tricked into eating a part of her own father, who then died and turned. Anyone wouldn't be in the right state of mind after something like that.

But that wasn't an excuse to put the group at risk. And everyone agreed with his idea to leave. If she didn't want to stick it out with them, then it was her choice, but he had everyone else to look after.

"Is Lily mad at you?" Chris stood upright and found Clementine looking back at him.

The fighter sighed, "Yeah, she is."

"Is she still sad about her dad?" asked the girl.

"She is, but she also doesn't want us to leave the motel." replied Chris, "Can you hand me that wrench overthere, sweetheart." he added, pointing to the makeshift table with various tools spread out over it.

Clementine grabbed the tool and handed it to him as he continued working while she spoke. "Why doesn't she want to leave?"

"It's because she doesn't think it's any safer out there." said the fighter. "And she might be right. But at the moment, with those bandits running around, everyone here is in serious danger. That's why we need to leave."

"We're going to Savanha, right?" his charge asked, "Does that mean we can start looking for my parents when we get there?"

The hope in her voice was strong, making Chris smile, while at the same time giving him a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. It had been a long while since the topic of her parents had come up, but he knew deep down that it was a long time coming.

But he didn't know what to tell her. There was a chance that they had survived the outbreak and were holed up somewhere like they were...but there was also a stronger chance that they were dead, or worse.

Taking a deep breath, the fighter put on a smile. "We'll try, Clem. Savanha's a big place, but we'll try."

It was about as good an answer he could give, and Clementine accepted it with a nod thankfully. "Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked, peering over the edge of the RV's front and looking curiously at the engine he was working on.

"As a matter of fact, there is." said Chris, "Can you go up to our room and check on Maggie? She's been a sleep for a while and I want to be sure that she's okay." The little girl beamed and gave a small salute before going over to the stairs. Watching after her for a moment, the fighter returned to his work.

If things went well, they'd be able to leave by tomorrow at the earliest. Though the sooner, the better.

X

Clementine opened the door where she and Chris slept and peeked her head inside, her eyes centering on the older woman who was curled up under the blankets on her guardian's bed.

Stepping inside quietly, she approached the bed and found Maggie shivering a bit, sweat breaking out along her forehead as she tossed and turned.

"Maggie?" she asked, reaching out and shaking the woman's shoulder.

The farmer girl jerked awake with a deep gasp, eyes wide as she bolted upright. Clementine yelped and fell back on her rear in alarm as Maggie spun her head left and right, the memories of where she was coming to her as she relaxed herself.

"Clementine?" she asked, seeing the girl looking up at her from the floor and realizing that she scared her. "I'm so sorry, sweetpea. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Clementine replied as she stood back up. "Were you having bad dreams?"

Maggie nodded, wiping the sweat from her face, "Yeah, I guess I was." she looked to her left when the little girl climbed into the bed and hugged her side.

"I have them too. Chris helps keep them away sometimes." said the little girl, making the older woman smile at her.

"Sounds like he's been taking good care of you."

Clementine smiled back, "He really does. He even started teaching me and Duck how to protect ourselves." she said with a bit of excitement in her voice, "And we're going to Savanah soon too, Chris promised to help me find my parents when we got there."

Maggie felt happy for the little girl, knowing that she had such a strong supporting person in her life through all this hell. It made her think about her family, and the farm where she'd grown up...before everything fell apart.

Seeing the woman's demeanor change, Clementine stepped closer and wrapped her in a hug. Surprising the southern-belle where she sat.

"Chris told us about what happened to your family and the farm. Are you okay?" she asked.

"I will be, sweetpea. In time." Maggie replied, wrapping her own arms around the girl. A knock at the door made them pull apart and look to see Chris opening the door and poking his head in.

"Just coming up to see if everything's alright." he said before stepping inside.

Maggie smiled at him, "Everything's fine." she replied, ruffling Clementine's hair and making her giggle.

The fighter couldn't help but smile as well at the interaction between the two. "We're going to be having a group meeting in a couple minutes. And as our newest member, I figured you'd want to be there too since it affects everyone."

Nodding, the farmer girl got up and left the room with Chris and Clementine leading. All three of them heading down to the parking lot by the RV where everyone else was already situated and waiting.

"So, what's the word?" asked Kenny when everyone was finally together.

Everyone save for Lily, anyway."

"The RV's fixed." Chris said clear enough for all of them to hear. "We can leave the motel at anytime. And with the situation in town the way it is, the sooner the better."

"What do you mean?" asked Mark, sitting up a bit straighter."

The fighter crossed his arms and sighed, "Macon's all dried up in terms of supplies, and the walkers pretty much own it now. That being said, we're probably the only place within miles worth raiding...and the bandits that have been hounding us probably now that. It's only a matter of time before they come here in force."

"So we're sticking to the Savannah plan?" wondered Carley.

"Yes." replied Chris, "And with the distance between Savannah and here, I think we should leave at first light tomorrow morning."

Everyone looked at one another a moment, "That soon?" asked Katjaa.

Chris nodded seriously, "I know that's sudden. But the longer we stay here the more likely we're to be hit."

There was a moment or two of discussion, Kenny looked to their leader and nodded, "Alright. What's first?"

"We gather all the supplies and store them in the RV." the fighter answered. "Kenny, Mark, gather weapons and ammo. Carley, Ben, food. Katjaa, take Maggie and get our medical stuff."

The adults all nodded as they set out to get what was needed. "What about us?" asked Clementine from her spot beside Duck.

The fighter smiled down at them, "I want you two to pick up everything of yours and put it into the RV as well. It's a long drive, so make sure you got enough to keep you entertained."

"Yes, sir!" Duck exclaimed with a sloppy salute before he and his charge ran off to get their stuff. Chris looked up at the sky and saw the sun dipping lower, dusk settling in with night soon to follow.

"Hey." he turned and saw Lily approaching him. Her earlier hostility gone and replaced with a hesitant demeanor."

"Something you need?" the fighter asked pointedly, wondering if this was just a prelude to another confrontation.

Lily sighed, "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry." she said, making Chris blink in surprise. "I know you're doing what's best for the group, and they made the right decision in putting you in charge. It's just...so much shit's happened in such a short time. And I can't...I couldn't..." she struggled at the end, her eyes shinning with unshed tears.

Chris stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder, "Lily, I get it. We've all lost someone, and you deserve a chance to grieve. But I need you to pull it together for the time being. We all need to stand strong and together to get through this."

The brunette nodded slowly and took a deep breath, "I'll do my best. Thank's, Chris. I just need a bit of time to-"

A gunshot rang out, Lily's left eye exploded, splashing blood and chunks of flesh across Chris' face. Her body toppling forward, forcing him to catch her as bullets started pinging off of everything around him.

The fighter scambled back, feeling rounds pepper the back of the dead woman's corpse before he fell back and rolled behind the RV for cover. "TIME DO DIE MOTHERFUCKERS!" someone shouted from the trees across the road just before several men with guns came running out into the open. Many of them opening fire on the motor inn.

Chris pulled the sidearm he kept tucked into his pants, flicking the safety off before firing back. He hadn't been expecting the bandits to come at them so quick, but he'd be damned if he didn't give them hell in return.

One bandit went down with a round drilled through his head, a couple of his friends shoving one of the dumpsters the group used as part of the barricade inward to give them a way inside.

Punching two holes through the chest of one of the other bandits and putting him down. Chris ducked back as bullets hit the RV. Taking a few deep breaths and waiting for an opening, he leaned back out when there was a break in the shooting to fire again.

Another bandit stood up, crossbow in hand and prepared to fire. Only for the side of his head to explode and his body to fall over to the side.

Up on the balcony, Kenny pulled the bolt handle of the hunting rifle in his hands back then forward, chambering a fresh round as he fired again.

Behind him, Mark came out with a pistol and fired down at the attacking group as well. Keeping the bandits off balance as they had to avoid bullets from two different directions.

Everyone else stayed out of sight while the firefight took place. The fighter looked to see that Carley and Ben were closest and had the best cover, he needed to make sure everyone got onto the RV before things got worse.

"KENNY! YOU AND BEN GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE!" he shouted as he fired at the bandits again.

The fisherman flashed him a thumbs up as he grabbed everything he could carry and ran for the stairs. Mark covering him while he moved while remaining a step behind him the whole way.

Seeing the duo move, the bandits focused their attention on them. Bullets bouncing off the railings and going through the walls behind them as they went down the steps two at a time to the asphalt. Dropping down behind Kenny's truck to avoid getting hit.

"We gotta get outta here!" shouted Kenny. Standing to shoot a couple times before ducking down again.

A bullet bounced off the side of the RV forcing Chris deeper into cover, "No shit!" he shouted back before leaning out and firing his weapon again, another one of the attacking bandits going down. "I'll cover you guys, get inside!" Kenny nodded, taking out the M16 he picked up from Macon and tossing it at him.

Grabbing the rifle from the air, Chris tossed the now empty pistol into the RV's open door before pressing the stock of the weapon against his shoulder and opened up on their attackers. Giving the other two men the opening to run to where he was and leap into the large vehicle.

The fighter used the RV to steady the weapon as he looked down the iron sights, switching the fire-selector to semi-auto. When one of the men stood up he pulled the trigger, hitting him right through the left eye.

"GO NOW! MOVE!" Chris called out to where Katjaa Maggie were hunkered down with Duck and Clementine.

The group of four ran, the two women keeping the children between them safe from harm as they reached the RV and got onboard.

Aiming over the hood, Chris watched a walker come up behind one of the bandits and yanked his head back before biting into his neck and dragging him to the ground while he fired wildly into the air. He could see more walkers starting to shuffle up the street, drawn by the sounds of gunfire as they began to converge on the motor inn as well.

"WE GOT WALKERS!" the fighter called out, targeting one of the invaders outside the fence and shooting him in the leg. The man went down screaming in agony the undead turning and falling on the easier meal and dividing the rest of the bandits' attention.

With everyone else on the RV, Chris looked to Carley and Ben and waved them over, both making a break for it.

There was another gunshot, Ben spun in place a half-turn and hit the pavement a foot away from safety. "BEN!" Chris shouted dropping the rifle in the RV and running out into the open, grabbing the man by the arms and pulling him with Carley covering with her pistol before helping him pull the teen inside the RV.

Blood gushing from a wound in the side of his neck he was feebly covering with his hands.

Kenny started the large vehicle, shifting it into gear and punching it. Running down a handful of walkers before smashing out of the weakened fence and speeding down the road.

Onboard, Chris and Carley were on their knees doing what they could for Ben while his wound continued to gush. The fighter pressing a rag to his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding, the teen's skin already becoming very pale.

"Dammit!" he said as the cloth stained dark-red and began to cover his hands.

"He's bad." said Carley in distress, digging into a medical kit they had on hand.

Maggie sat with Clementine on the nearby bench, the little girl curled in the older woman's lap with her face in the crook of her neck while her guardian tried desperately to save the boy's life.

Ben coughed wetly, crimson liquid spraying free and splashing on his face as he tried to breathe. "Hang on Ben! Just hold the fuck on!" Chris shouted as he applied a little more pressure, but deep down he knew that it was all for nothing.

The wound was mortal. The amount of blood he was losing being the best indicator for that even though he tried his best to prolong his life.

Seconds ticked by like an eternity until Ben's breathing stopped, head falling to the side while his eyes remained open and becoming glossy.

A cold silence filled the RV as Chris moved his hands away from their dead friend. Blood staining his hands as he bowed his head.

"Fuck..." he muttered, gritting his teeth before punching the floor several times. "God! Fucking! DAMMIT!" he shouted between hits. Stopping long enough to breathe and collect himself just enough to speak again.

"Kenny..." he called just loud enough for the older man to hear him. "Stop the RV."

Kenny looked back, his eyes widening when he saw Ben's body with a dark stain spreading along the carpet beneath it. Knowing the severity of the situation, he pulled the vehicle to the side of the road, the skies darkening with each passing minute as the cool night began to set in.

When they came to a complete stop, the door opened and Chris stepped out. Taking a deep breath, calming his nerves and pushing down his emotions as he prepared for what needed to be done. He turned and began pulling the body out, Carley and Mark helping him as they moved toward the woods.

Both doing so with heavy hearts having witnessed the young man dying right infront of them.

Laying Ben down in the nearby ditch, lacking the tools and the time for a proper burial, the fighter reached out and closed the boy's eyes before taking out his knife.

"I'm sorry, Ben." he said lowly before, kneeling down next to the body and stabbing into the temple. Ensuring that he didn't come back.

Chris looked down at the body for a couple of moments longer before closing his eyes and shaking his head. A hand on his arm caused him to look over at Carley's saddened, concerned eyes. Neither said anything as they headed back to the RV, Mark casting one last look back at their fallen friend before following after them.

"What do we do now?" asked Carley.

"The plan hasn't changed." replied the fighter, buring his emotions deep and focusing on the task ahead. "We head to Savannah, find a boat...and survive. We owe it to the one's we've lost today."

The trio got back onto the RV. Carley and Mark sitting at the table in the back while Chris sat heavily on the bench where Clementine and Maggie were.

Looking up at her guardian a moment, the little girl leaned to his side, tucking her head into his side. His arm coming up and going around her shoulders automatically, everyone remaining silent as Kenny started driving again.

Their tail lights all that could be seen on the quickly darkening road.

 ** _A/N: And the group has survived yet again...but not without losses. How will they endure with the long road ahead of them. And are they getting closer to salvation...or farther into hell?_**

 ** _Review when you can, the next chapter is already in the works._**


	11. The Long Road Ahead Pt2

_**A/N: Yeah...when I said the next chapter was in the works, I meant to say it was already done. Just thought I would give the last one a little time in the lime light before dropping the newer one.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead**_

An hour later after their last stop, the Macon survivors sat around the RV silently as they rumbled farther South.

Kenny at the wheel with Katjaa and Duck riding shotgun. Clementine was curled up in the window seat in front of the door leaning into Maggie's side, the older woman's fingers running up and down her back calmly as she stared into space.

In the back, Carley and Mark sat across from one another at the small table, talking in low tones privately.

As for Chris, he went through their supplies for what felt like the tenth time since they hit the road. They had a good surplus on them, but it would have been better if they had more time to grab what was left at the motor inn.

They had a two full first aid kits, several boxes of ammo for their three pistols and two rifles along with two full clips for the M16, enough food and water to last them roughly three weeks, along with various other items that could prove useful such as rope, duct tape, two hunting knives, matches, etc.

Their stocks weren't the best, but at least they had something on hand.

Zipping up the last duffel bag and putting it back in the cabinet when he heard Katjaa's voice from the front. "Chris, a word, please." The fighter made his way up, standing between the two seats.

"What's up?" he asked looking between the two of them. Kenny sighed and focused on driving.

"About Lily...and Ben." the fisherman started, but Chris held up his hand before he could finish.

"Nothing can be done about it now. We'll grieve our losses when we're somewhere safer." the fighter stated as he turned to head back into the trailer.

Katjaa's hand reached out and grabbed his before he could. "Don't do that to yourself, Chris." she said gently, seeing the conflict buried in his eyes. "You took so much on your shoulders when you agreed to lead this group. No matter what happens, you can't see every outcome. And no one blames you for what has happened, we certainly don't."

The fighter breathed slowly through his nose before nodding, "Thanks.".

He made his way over to the bench where Maggie and his charge were still comfortable and sat down on the opposite end. Clementine moved out of the woman's embrace and curled up with him instead, Chris lifting his arm and putting it around her as she got comfortable.

"What happened to Ben?" the girl asked.

"He's...at peace, Clem." said Chris. "Gone, but unable to come back as one of them."

"Because you had to get him in the head...right?" she asked slowly, getting a nod from the fighter.

He felt a hand trailing along his arm and looked up to see Maggie moving close to them. Putting her arm around Clementine as well and resting it on his shoulder, offering comfort to the both of them.

Chris smiled, looking down at his charge causing her to look back up at him, "I'm glad I have you," he looked over at the farmer girl again, "Both of you."

"Me too," said Clementine before looking forward again, "I heard you outside my treehouse that day, and thought about dropping a hammer on your head...I didn't though." she admitted about the first day they met.

The fighter snorted a chuckled, "Wouldn't blame you if you did. But I'm thankful you didn't either." Maggie smiled in amusement as well, the depression from before temporarily forgotten as they lapsed back into silence. The low rumble of the RV's engine and the slight dripping of the nearby faucet filling the void.

Chris blinked slowly, having seen Clementine doze off a moment ago. Maggie following shortly after, her head leaning back against the seat with soft snores coming from her slightly open lips. The fighter blinked again and looked down when he felt his charge shift.

The girl sat up and turned to him...then lunged at him.

"CLEM?!" he shouted when he saw her pale skin and filmed-over eyes. The smell of death and rot coming from her torn lips as she tried to sink her teeth into his throat. "FUCK! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?" he fought her off, but despite her size and the fatigue that was hitting him he couldn't hold out.

One slip of the hand, and the small walker yanked his head to the side and chomped hard into his exposed neck-

X

Chris bolted awake, unaware that he had even fallen asleep. Looking around still on alert, he found everyone still sleeping save for Kenny who was still driving.

Light poured through the surrounding windows, the sun still low behind the trees meaning that it was now early in the morning. "We got something up ahead." Kenny said from the front snapping him out of his daze. The fighter moved his charge so that she was laying on the bench, head in Maggie's lap before making his way to the front.

"What's up?" he asked looking out the windshield and seeing what the fisherman had.

"Road's blocked." came the reply as the RV pulled to a stop.

Up ahead, a train was stopped on the tracks crossing the road. The back end having derailed and making it impossible for them to pass. "Now we gotta deal with this."

Chris opened the door and stepped off first, observing the scene before them and trying to figure out how to get around it. The others joining him shortly, "Any ideas?" asked Kenny looking over the train.

"We can only go around this by foot, but we can't afford to do that right now." said the fighter as he looked around their environment, "At least we're in a safe place, all the foliage will keep the corpses or anything else from sneaking up on us. So at least we have a moment to collect ourselves."

"We could go check things out while everyone else takes a breather." offered Maggie. Chris nodded and turned to everyone else as they gathered around a fallen tree.

"Everyone relax, Maggie and I will check out the train." the fighter knelt down in front of Clementine. "Clem, stay close to Kenny and the others, okay? We'll be back soon."

The girl nodded and sat down beside Katjaa who handed her a small snack with Duck. "Be careful in there guys." Kenny called to duo as they made for the train.

Chris flashed him a thumbs up over his shoulder. "Think we'll find anything?" asked Maggie as they stepped up to the open car ahead.

"Don't know, but it's not like we have a lot of options." the fighter replied as he looked back toward the others. "We should split up, I'll check the front, you check the rear car. Keep your guard up, no idea what could be waiting for us."

Maggie nodded as she hopped up into the opening to the rear car. Chris moved toward the small step ladder and pulled himself up on to the walkway between the cars and moved along the outer railing. Finding a couple of cabinets to his right and checking them over.

The first one revealed a section of the train's engines, after flipping a few switches he discovered that the freight was unresponsive. Closing the doors, he checked the next compartment which had a small assortment of tools lined along the inside.

Picking up a large wrench the size of his arm, and tested it's weight, Chris he closed the doors as well before heading toward the control car at the front.

Pausing at the door, he peered through the dirty window and could make out form that was slumped over the controls inside. "Fuck." he cursed under his breath as he raised his new weapon.

Grabbing the door handle, he counted down from three in his head before yanking it open and going in, slamming the blunt tool on the corpse's head sending it slamming into the console before it.

No response. A closer inspection showed that the man had been dead and stayed that way given how the front of his head was caved in and the window ahead was broken and covered in old blood. Most likely from when the back end of the train derailed and the sudden stop sending him into the window face-first.

Taking the body from the seat and moving it to the floor, Chris got a look at the console and found everything dark. Save for a blinking light on the left. Shrugging, the fighter pressed the switch, hearing a loud hiss from outside close to the tracks. "The breaks." he said to himself, turning to the door when he heard someone approaching.

"This fucker still works?" asked Kenny as he and Maggie stepped inside.

"Looks like it." answered Chris as the fisherman took up the driver's seat.

"I'll be damned. How the hell do we get it movin'?" he asked looking over the controls. "Did you find any instructions or something laying around?"

"I Found a map of the train tracks back in the box car," said Maggie, holding out a clipboard with a map of Georga with various lines covering the state. "This track looks like it heads straight to the coast in Savannah."

Chris took the map and read it over, nodding to himself with a smirk. "Appears that we just found ourselves a new transport, if we can get it moving again."

"It would be safer." added Kenny. "Doubt any walkers would be able to stop a freight train at full speed. We can put a thousand of the fuckers between us and the coast and not have to worry about it!"

"My major is auto mechanics, Kenny. Not engineering." said the fighter looking over the various consoles around them,

The fisherman shrugged, "How hard can it be? They can't have kept instructions for this beast too far. We just gotta look for them."

Maggie tapped Chris on the shoulder, "I'm going to go check on Katjaa and the kids, I think you boys got things from here." Chris nodded as she left the lead car of the train before beginning his search.

It didn't take long given that the lead car wasn't that large, in the end he found a notepad posted the the opposite side of the controls. The front page having been torn off but the remaining piece at the top reading 'Engine Startup'. "Kenny, think I got something." he said running his fingers over the page beneath the torn one. "Instructions on how to start the engine."

"What do they say?" asked the fisherman.

"Pages are gone. But I think I can see the indentations form the pen on the ones underneath." an idea suddently hit him. "Hold on, I think I might have an idea. Be right back." he turned to the door behind him that led to the front walk at the head of the train and stepped down to the ground.

A loud snarl caused him to spin around fast, brandishing his wrench only to find a walker thrashing wildly from inside a car that had taken a header in the nearby ditch. The undead attempting to reach him even though it was strapped in the passenger seat by the belt.

"Guess these things aren't as 'life-saving' as we were led to believe." he couldn't help but think outloud as he approached the car. Looking inside he didn't find anything useful, but it was better to deal with the walker incase it managed to break free.

Checking the door handle and finding it unlocked, the walker began thrashing even harder as it opened with its prey just out of reach. Looking from the undead to the door in his hand, an idea quickly formed as he looked at the corpse with a sadistic grin.

"You want food?" he asked leaning forward, grabbing the outstretched arm that came at him and pressing his other hand to the seatbelt buckle. "Come and get it." he moved back as the walker lunged, waiting for the right moment before slamming the door hard against its head, crushing it against the door frame with a crunch and splattering rotten blood and grey matter against the side of the wrecked car.

Once dead, Chris stepped back from the car and made his way around the front and back toward the group. Everyone was settled in well and waited patiently for him and Kenny to finish up. Magie looked up from her spot beside Clementine and nodded, the little girl smiling at him as she went back to the picture she was drawing.

"Hey guys." he said approaching them. "Everything alright?"

"More or less," replied the farmer girl, "Any luck with the train?"

The fighter nodded, "May have a way to get it started." he said before turning it attention to Clementine. "Hey sweetheart, think I can borrow one of your crayons for a bit?"

His charge nodded as she went through the box beside her, pulling out a dark-grey one and handing it to him. "Will this work?" she asked.

"Perfect." he replied taking the crayon and pocketing it. Ruffling the girl's hair a bit

Smiling, the girl went back to her drawing. The fighter sent one of his own at Maggie before making his way back to the train.

X

In the end his idea had worked.

Using the crayon Clementine had given him, Chris was able to make the instructions for the train appear by rubbing the colored wax gently over the indented page. Thankful that his charge had shown him her artwork back when they were at the motor inn.

It took him a few minutes to decipher what the page was telling him, but it proved beneficial when the whole train came alive as power returned to the engine.

But they were still unable to go anywhere as long as the lead car and box car were still attached to the wrecked half.

Thankfully, Chris had the tool for the job as he made his way back to the box car, going through to the other side and using his wrench to pry the coupler pin connecting the cars free making it so that they could move the freight.

"Kenny! We're loose!" he called up to the lead car before making his way back through the boxcar.

"You touch any of my stuff?" he froze when he heard the grizzled voice when he pulled himself up. Standing in the other opening was an older man with shaggy grey hair and beard, his clothes covered in dirt and grime almost making him look like a walker if one were to look at a distance.

Seeing the man waiting for an answer, Chris decided to go with honesty. "Just the map of the train routes. Nothing else."

The man nodded, "That's all fine, you can have that stuff. Got the routes all up here." he said tapping the side of his head. "Guess it's no worse for wear." he added looking at his things. "Name's Chuck, Charles if you're fancy."

The fighter shook his hand, "Chris."

"That you're crew outside?" asked Chuck.

"Yeah, I take it you've met them?"

"Yeah. I saw you all walking through here and thought about scaring the pants off of you. But I couldn't force myself to do it. Looked like you all have been through a heap of trouble." said drifter. "Everyone seemed to warm up to me right quick in the sunlight. Nice bunch you got here."

"Thanks." said the fighter as they jumped down from the boxcar and went over to the others. Clementine getting to her feet and running up to him.

"You met Chuck!" she said as the man sat down on the fallen tree and began strumming on an old guitar.

"I did." said Chris, observing the old drifter.

"It's so nice to meet someone normal for a change." said Katjaa.

"More like a breath of fresh air." added Carley while leaning against a nearby rock.

Clementine smiled back up at her guardian, "He gave us candy." she said holding up a bag of opened M&M's.

Chuck nodded, "It was no trouble, happy to help good folks who need a hand."

"Thank you, and your welcome with us." said the fighter honestly.

"Much appreciated." Chuck nodded, "And I'll offer ya'll whatever I got, although it ain't much."

"And we'll do the same." said Maggie coming up to stand by Chris. "It's always good to have some good company."

Kenny took that moment to make himself known. "So, are we all set? We're cut loose?" he asked.

The fighter nodded, "We're golden." he turned to the group. "Alright everyone, gather all the supplies we got and load them into the boxcar. We're taking the train to the coast." The others all started moving as he turned to Chuck, "Need a ride?"

"Well, it seems like ya'll are taking my home. So I guess I can tag along." he said with a smile. "Haven't found anything better for keeping the creepy-crawlies out than that boxcar." With that he jumped on, helping everyone load the supplies from the RV onboard.

Once everyone was situated, Chris began making his way to the head of the train. Stepping into the control room where Kenny was already in the driver's seat. "Ready?" he asked looking back at him.

"As I'll ever be." replied the younger man, reaching forward and grasping the throttle. The lever pulling back as the freight came to life and began to slowly roll forward. Gaining speed little by little and in minutes, the trees began to flow past them as they chugged along the tracks.

The two men at the helm couldn't help but smile at their fortune at finding the train perfectly operable.

Looking at the stretch of track before them, Chris couldn't shake the feeling of dread swimming in his gut. His instincts telling him that things were about to get a lot worse very soon. A feeling he knew all too well at this point.

And one that was rarely wrong.

X

The surrounding forest fluttered past as the loud rumble and screech of the trains wheels on the track echoed in the air. Onboard, the survivors were all gathered in the boxcar doing whatever they could to pass the time.

Carley and Mark were taking stock of their supplies, Maggie and Katjaa were with the kids who were going over the school workbooks they managed to bring along with them who sat in a corner slumped forward asleep.

Chris stood with Chuck watching the scenery pass by out one of the open doors. "Got to be hard on ya, eh?" he looked over at the old man who kept his eyes on the passing forest. "Six adults, looking after two kids and trying to get through all this. No disrespect, son."

"There were others." said the fighter solumnly.

"Dead get 'em?" asked the drifter, the younger man shook his head. "Living, huh? Guess the world really has gone crazy."

"More than you could possibly know." Chris said back, looking over his shoulder to see Maggie helping Clementine with a problem she was having difficulty solving.

Chuck followed his sighted, "The girl yours?"

"In a matter of speaking. I found her alone in the beginning of everything, been looking after her ever since." said the fighter.

"Mighty noble of ya." said the drifter. "With everything goin' to hell and whatnot, it's good to see some folks still do right by others out there."

"Got family of your own?" asked Chris.

"Out there, somewhere. Been sorta on my own for the past, oh I don't know, fourteen years now." said Chuck.

The fighter looked to him in sympathy, "So, you're homeless. That sucks."

"Ain't no one to blame, son. Things just don't seem to work out the way you want them to, ya know?" the drifter reached down and picked up a half-bottle of whisky and took a pull from it. "So, you and yours gotta plan when ya'll get to Savannah?"

"Find a boat, then head North. Away from the heavy populated areas and find somewhere safer." replied Chris.

Chuck sent him a sideways glance, "Find a boat? You got any idea where to look for one?"

"Check the local piers first. If we can't find one, then we'll continue on land." said the fighter, "I'm hoping we won't be in the city too long, movement equals survival."

The drifter nodded, "Sounds like ya got everything figured out." he looked back at the others, mostly at Clementine before speaking again. "You got a backup plan should anything happen to you?"

Chris gave him a look, a retort on the tip of his tongue, but he managed to quell it.

As much as he didn't want to face the possibility of leaving the girl he had come to care for alone, he knew that anything could happen at any time. The events of the day before being proof of that.

"I've been training her in how to defend herself. Duck too." the fighter said after a moment or two. "I used to be in Mixed Martial Arts, so I'm teaching them what they'll need to know. I was hoping to start them on gun training soon."

"But...if something does happen to me...then I know that one of the others are willing to step in for her. I trust them."

"Smart man." said Chuck, taking another drink. "Out there, the only thing that matters is whether you're alive or dead. It's a harsh thing to face. But from where I'm standing, at least you're not going into it blind, that's something."

He handed the liquor bottle to the younger man, but it was waved off as Chris turned headed into the train car just as the kids were finished with their learning for the day.

"Hey guys, everything good?" the fighter asked.

"I hate math." Duck groaned, making the adults chuckle.

"We all do sometimes, bud." said Chris, "Thankfully, I'm going to be teaching you guys something else to take your minds off of it."

Both kids perked up while he reached behind his back, producing his pistol and showing it to them. "I was hoping to wait a little longer to be teaching you how to use guns. But after what happened yesterday, I think it's time to at least show you the basics for now."

"You sure this is a good idea?" asked Maggie in concern, "They're still so young."

"The walkers won't care." Chris said back, "I don't feel right about it either, Mags. But if these guys get caught alone, the least I can do is teach them something to keep them alive."

Katjaa nodded, albet hesitantly. "I understand. I was skeptical about you teaching Duckie how to fight, but seeing how you are with him and Clementine, I trust you." she turned to her son, "Listen carefully to everything Chris tells you. Guns are very dangerous."

Duck nodded, "Okay, mom."

"Umm..." Clementine mumbled, looking at the pistol with fearful eyes.

"Don't be afraid of it, Clem. It's an object, nothing more." said Chris before ejecting the clip and pulling the slide back to eject the round in the chamber, handing the now empty weapon to the girl handle-first. "Here, take it."

Slowly, the girl reached out and accepted the gun. Holding it with both hands. "It's heavy."

"You'll get used to it. Now, the first thing you both need to learn is where your fingers are the whole time. Never put them on the trigger unless you're ready to shoot. And always aim it away from you." the fighter started explaining.

"The notches on the top are the sights, look down them and line up your target using them. Then, when your ready to fire, pull the trigger steadily. If you can't keep it straight, take a deep breath and hold it before you fire."

For a couple of minutes, Chris passed the weapon between the two kids. Showing them where every part was and explained how to hold it, aim, shoot and reload. When he was sure that they knew what they needed to he grabbed some empty bottles from the back of the car and brought them over.

"Now, for the practice part." he said, taking the pistol and loading a full clip into it. "First rule?"

"Always aim at the ground, or in the air unless there are targets nearby. Even if the safety is on." answered Duck.

"Good. Second?"

"If you see a target, use the sights to aim and pull the trigger steadily." said Clementine.

"Correct. And third?"

"Aim for the head." both kids answered at the same time.

Chris grinned at them, "Perfect. Now you're ready." he took three bottles and set them up on the crate on the other end of the car. "Who wants to go first?"

Clementine swallowed before stepping forward with a brave face. Her guardian handed her the gun and stood behind her as she took a stance and aimed at one of the bottles on the crate.

"Don't hold your arms straight and locked." said the fighter, adjusting her arms so that her elbows were bent a little. "When the gun fires, there's always a bit of recoil. With your arms like this, you'll be able to handle it."

Covering her ears to block out most of the noise, Clementine took careful aim. "Remember, Clem. Hold your breath for accuracy, then pull the trigger smoothly." Chris coached.

 _Bam!_

"EEP!" Clementine jumped, nearly dropping the pistol, but managed to keep her hold on it.

"You okay, baby-girl?" the fighter asked.

"It's loud! And my hands hurt a little." Clementine admitted.

Chris nodded, "That'll happen the first couple of times. Don't worry, your hands and ears will get stronger over time. You just need to stick with it."

Nodding back slowly, Clementine took her shooting position again, her guardian covering her ears as she took aim again.

 _Bam!_

The next shot struck the wall behind the bottle on the right. "Aim a bit to the left, and keep it steady." Chris instructed.

Clementine nodded, taking a deep breath before she fired again.

 _Bam!_

The bottle shattered. "I got it!" the girl exclaimed in excitement.

"That's my girl, good shot." Chris praised. "Think you can get he next one?"

Clementine turned to the two remaining targets and took aim again. Pulling the trigger, the bullet struck the crate just below the bottle.

"Aim a little higher, and you got it." said the fighter. His charge firing again and shattering the target. "Alright, excellent. Now the last one."

Clementine took a deep breath and fired a third time, hitting the bottle the first time. "I did it!" she beamed.

Chris smiled back at her, "That you did, I'm proud of you, Clem."

"Way to go, Clementine." said Carley. She and Mark having watched with Katjaa, Maggie and Chuck.

"I'm next!" Duck bounced in his seat, excited for his turn.

"Easy there, Rambo." Chris joked as he took the gun back from Clementine and set up three more bottles on the crate before taking a similar position with the boy as he did with his charge.

Following the same steps, Duck managed to hit all three bottles with only a little trouble at first.

From her spot observing, Maggie couldn't help but smile as she watched Chris teach and interact with the kids. He had a natural knack about him, and it showed with how Clementine and Duck responded to his methods.

She remembered the kiss they shared back at the motor inn, her cheeks warming when she thought about the feelings that went through her in their small, intimate moment. Originally, she had been concerned with how bold she had been, given that they had only known each other for such a small time.

But when he kissed her back, the southern-belle couldn't help but wonder if he felt similar.

Catching Chris looking her way, Maggie smiled back which had him doing the same in return. Deciding to speak with him later when they had a moment alone, she simply settled in and looked on.

Hoping that where they were going would prove to be a good haven for the time being.

X

As the train rumbled down the tracks and heading to the East, several walkers turned their heads to the loud noise the transport made as it went past.

Groaning their songs of souless hunger, the corpses began to shamble in the direction the train was going. Their numbers growing steadily larger as they went on mindlessly along the tracks...

 _ **A/N: Things always seem to go from bad to worse when dealing with the living dead. Any, as many people know, no one is safe in a world like that.**_

 _ **I think I'm getting my stride back, so keep a look out for the next update guys.**_


	12. Blockade

**_A/N: And the hits just keep on rolling. With the end of Season 7 of the TV series comes new life for all us writers out there who needed the kick to get back to what we do best._**

 ** _Even though there will be a good amount of changes in the coming future, many things will still somewhat stay the same in terms of plot. Though with a much larger group on its way to Savannah, the options that are now open boggle the mind._**

 ** _But for now, there's still much to be done!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead._**

It was barely the afternoon when Chris stepped into the engine car. Kenny turning in his seat and nodding to the younger man as he drove the train ahead. "Everything good back there? Thought I heard gunshots."

"Teaching Clem and Duck how to shoot. Hope I didn't overstep boundaries in doing so." said Chris as he leaned against a nearby console.

Kenny shook his head, "Nah, the way you've been teaching my boy how to defend himself, I trust you. Especially after what happened the other day."

The two men lapsed into a dull silence, Chris noticed something sticking out of the plastic holder next to the driver's seat of the engine car and pointed it out. "Ken, hand me that would ya?"

The fisherman turned and pulled out the folded paper and handed it to him, the fighter opening it up and finding a map of Savannah. "What is it?"

"Savannah." Chris replied, laying the map out for him to see. "If I'm reading this right, this train should go right through the city as long as nothing's holding us up."

"Well, I'll be damned. Guess we hit the jackpot with transportation, huh?" said Kenny.

Chris nodded, "Yeah, but taking this rig through a small city will wake up every walker in the area. We're better off stopping just outside the city limits and going in on foot."

"Can't argue with that one. What about when we get there? I'm all for finding a boat and getting the hell out of dodge, but where do we start?" asked the fisherman.

"There are piers and docks along the outer coast, we can check there first to see if any are still sea-worthy." Chris started explaining, "But first we need to locate a secure place to set up shop while we look, we can't have everyone going at once, too much noise and we'll attract too much attention. That...and I promised to help Clementine look for her mom and dad when we had the chance."

Kenny sent his young friend a look, "You sure they're even still alive? I mean, it's possible, but..." he trailed off.

The fighter sighed, "I don't know. There is a chance, and we'll at least try. But...I'm not so sure myself. I don't want to give Clem false hope, but if we were able to get this far, then they could have too."

"She have any idea where they could be?"

"They supposedly stayed in the same place everytime they went there. Somewhere called The Marsh House. It's as good a place as any."

"Better than nothing, at least." replied Kenny while looking at the place on the map, "It's near one of the piers too, we can check it out when-OH, SHIT! HOLD ON EVERYBODY!" he suddenly shouted when he looked forward again, grabbing the break handle and jerking it back as hard as he could.

The train's wheels screeched loudly, sparks shooting off the tracks as the vessel came to a rough, yet slow, stop. Chris stumbled, but managed to keep himself upright until everything stabilized.

"Christ...What's up, Kenny?"

The fisherman looked a head with a scowl, "See for yourself."

Stepping out onto the front railing at the head of the engine car, the fighter saw what had made the man stop the train. Up ahead was a tall bridge, more than likely a part of a highway, and on the road above was a stopped tractor trailer with two oil tankers attatched to the back.

One of which was leaning over the edge of the bridge and suspended above the ground, blocking the tracks and making it impossible for the train to continue.

"Well...fuck." Kenny said frusterated while coming out to stand beside him. Everyone else got out of the box car and saw the obsticle as well.

"Jesus. How the hell are we going to get past that?" said Mark.

"Could we walk the rest of the way?" asked Carley.

Maggie shook her head, "It's miles between here and Savannah."

"And the kids wouldn't be able to make the journey." added Katjaa.

Chuck stepped down from the train and looked at the wreckage, "Hmm, I ain't got much experience with ya'll's fortitude, but we could probably deal with this. We got a goddamn train."

"That thing's full of fuel, Chuck." said Chris. "We hit that, any sparks will cause a blast that'll level the whole bridge.

"And kill us all." threw in Kenny. "Could we move it somehow? Or maybe-"

"Hey! You make anymore noise and you're gonna get your faces chewed off." someone called down to them. Everyone looked up and found a couple looking back from ontop of the bridge.

"Are you guys going to be trouble?" asked the dark-skinned woman after the man's statement. "Because we could've just kept walking."

"Depends on who's asking." Chris said, stepping infront of the group.

The woman crossed her arms, "Two people who have the strategic position on all of you."

"Fair enough. We're friendlies as long as you are to us." the fighter said back.

The couple exchanged words for a few moments before looking back to the group on the ground. "You guys having problems with your train?" asked the man.

"You're standing right infront of it." said Kenny.

"Dude, it's a wreck. It's not so bad from up here. Send someone up here to take a look."

Chris looked at the others, "I got this. But if something goes sideways..."

"We won't let them get away." Mark said seriously.

Nodding, the fighter took out his sidearm and made sure it was loaded before making sure his hatchet and knife were on hand before heading toward the ladder and making his way up.

"A group of guys is what we need." he heard the man say from above.

"They're what you think we need. We're doing fine." the woman said back just as he reached the top and pulled himself up to the edge.

"For now. What about when-"

"Stop." the conversation ended as Chris approached the couple.

"Hey dude, I'm Omid." said the man.

"Chris." replied the fighter.

"Christa." added the woman, "What's the deal with the train?"

"We driving it." Chris said which had Omid looking excited. "We've had a rough couple of days, lost two of our own yesterday and we're just trying to get somewhere safer."

Christa nodded sadly, "Yeah, we know what that's like."

"Oh, shit..." Omid said, wide eyed, "You guys gotta kid?!"

Turning around, Chris blinked when he saw Clementine pull herself up. "Clem? What are you doing up here?"

"Do you know how long it's been since either of us have seen a kid?" asked Omid before turning to Clementine, "What's your name?"

"Clementine." the girl said a bit shyly.

"Well, this is great. See, things are looking up." Omid said to Christa.

The woman narrowed her eyes, "You're not her dad. Is he down there?" she asked pointedly.

"I'm not, and no. The two of us have been surviving together for a while now. Doing what we can to get by, and hopefully find her mom and dad." said Chris.

"And everyone else down there, they're cool?" questioned Christa.

The fighter nodded, "Kenny, his wife Katjaa and their son have been with me and Clem for a while. We met Maggie a while back and she recently joined us. Carley and Mark we met back in Macon. And Chuck we just met today, but he seems alright."

"Whoa, your group has _two_ kids?" Omid said in surprise, "That's awesome! And so is the train! You guys must be really lucky finding something like that."

"Yeah, well...it has it's downfalls apparently." said Chris as he shot a glare at the tanker blocking the tracks.

"We'll help you however we can." said Christa, "But if we see anything we don't like, we're moving on down the road. Alone."

"Sounds fair," said the fighter, "Any ideas?"

Omid pointed at the component where the two tankers were connected. "The hitch is mangled to hell, maybe if you can find a way to separate them it'll be easier."

Chris looked at the hitch and narrowed his eyes, "Anything short of a torch won't get through metal that thick. And the way it's bent...no way in hell we'll be able to pull it out." he thought outloud mostly to himself before turning back to the couple. "The rest of my group should know about this, all of us working together would be better to figure this out."

With everyone in agreement, the four of them went down the ladder where everyone else was waiting for them. "Guys, this is Omid and Christa. They've agreed to help us with our little problem."

"It's nice to meet you." said Katjaa kindly, "And thank you, any extra help would be appreciated."

"We aren't looking for charity in return." said Christa, "But if we can all help each other out, it's worth something."

"Agreed." said Chris. "The plan is to cut the tanker down so we can pass. Problem is that the metal hitch is too thick for most methods."

"What about the tools on the train?" offered Mark, "Is there something to either break it or at least loosen it up?"

Omid shook his head, "The thing's twisted like a pretzel up there. You'll need something heavy duty to do the job."

"How bout that train station down there." said Carley, pointing down past the hanging tanker where a building could be seen on the side of the tracks infront of the woods. "There might be something we can use inside."

"Worth a shot." said Chris before addressing everyone. "I'll go check it out, you guys sit tight. Any sign of touble, don't hesitate to let everyone know."

Several nods responded. Clementine approached her guardian, "Can I come with you?"

"Not this time, Clem." the fighter said, kneeling down to her level and speaking a bit lower. "Besides, I need you here keeping an eye on things. Make sure our new friends are good people, okay?"

His charge nodded, "Okay. Be careful."

Chris stood upright and began making his way up the tracks toward the station. Making it under the bridge when he heard someone call out to him.

"Chris, wait!" he turned back and saw Maggie jogging up. "Mind a little help?" she asked when she reached him.

"Definitely wouldn't hurt." he replied, privately glad for her company as they now walked side by side to the old buildling. The only sound between the two of them being their footsteps on the loose gravel beneath their feet.

It was in this quiet moment that Chris realized that neither of them had really talked since the motor inn. Especially after the moment they had in the room.

Maggie was a very attractive woman. And from the times they had spoken to one another, the fighter knew that she was also smart and worldly. They shared a lot in common, and she had a smile that just seemed to light everything up.

Even though he hadn't been expecting the kiss she had given him, he had been bold enough to turn around and kiss her in return. But it made him wonder. Did she kiss him out of gratitude for saving her back in Macon and bringing her into the group, or because she was harboring feelings for him.

He wasn't sure. A large part of him was hoping for the latter. If Chris was honest with himself, he wouldn't mind a relationship with the beautiful farmer girl. Though it was way too soon to tell if something like that was even possible.

 _"Come on...Say something!"_ Chris mentally exclaimed to himself. _"You've faced a lot of scarier shit than this!"_

"So." both of them froze, realizing that they had spoken at the same time. Maggie's face darkened a bit as they shared a small laugh.

"How've you been holding up, Maggie?" the fighter asked when the tense spell was broken.

"I'm managing. You and the other's have been a great help with that." she replied, still smiling. "I can see how you've managed to get by so long. You all are a pretty tight-nit group."

Chris nodded, "That happenes when you face death almost every day. We've all been through a lot together, and from that we've learned to trust one another. Knowing that at the end of the day, we'll always have someone watching our backs."

Maggie glanced at the ground, thinking to herself before speaking. "The other group, the one that came to our farm, they weren't nearly as collected as yours is. Daddy and I could see the mistrust amongst a couple of them, even though a few were friends."

"That'll happen." said the fighter, "When things are as bad as they are now, most folks will try to enforce their own ideals onto others. Some will follow along, while others will rebel against it. That's where fights break out, mistrust and even paranoia. If there isn't unity in a group, they are doomed to fail...and possibly lose their lives in the process."

They came to a stop and faced one another, "The others made me leader. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to lord over them. I make a good deal of decisions on behalf of everyone, but if something greatly affects us all, everyone gets a say in what we do."

"Democracy still lives." the southern-belle commented.

"Even in hell." Chris added as they started walking again. "Anyone in this other group catch your attention?" he asked after another minute.

"The little boy that had gotten shot was a sweetheart, took a lot after his daddy." said Maggie. "The older man who owned the RV they rode in was nice, so was the woman who lost her daughter. Then there was this asian boy, his name was Glenn."

Chris nodded, "I know him. He was actually part of our group when we first set up shop at the motor inn. But he set off on his own to try and find some friends of his." he glanced at Maggie, his stomach heavy with a little jealousy while he wondered if anything happened between them. "Did you guys get close?" he finally questioned.

The farmer girl sighed, "He was nice, real sweet actually. I could tell that he was looking for something more with me. But..." she trailed off.

"But...?" the fighter pressed lightly.

"I just didn't feel the same." she admitted. "Even though options are limited these days for companionship, I've been thinking about one guy in particular for a while now."

"He sounds like a good one then, if he's been on your mind despite everything." said Chris.

Maggie smiled, "He is a good one. We didn't know each other for very long, and I wasn't sure about him at first, but as I got to know him I realized that he had a good heart and a strong will. Taking on everything thrown at him even when things were at their worst. All of that, and he's quite amazing with kids."

She turned to the man beside her, "How about you? You find a special someone while being out in all of this?"

"I guess you could say I'm in a similar situation." said Chris. "I met a special girl once a while ago, and no matter how I try, I can't help thinking about her from time to time."

"Really? She's that special?" asked Maggie, now very curious.

"In many ways." replied the fighter, "She's beautiful, of course. But she's also funny, smart and worldly. Never met someone like her before, but I always hoped that I would find someone like that one day."

They reached the station and came to a stop, Chris turned to Maggie and took a deep breath. "Okay, it's obvious that we need to-" he never got to finish when the southern-belle stepped into his personal space and kissed him, her arms going around his neck.

Stunned for a brief second, his hands went to her waist and pressed back. Finding her mouth open and waiting as the contact deepened between them.

"How obvious is it now?" Maggie asked as she moved back, but only slightly to kept her arms where they were.

"Surprising is more like it." replied Chris, reaching up and brushing a bit of her hair behind her ear. "So, you've had a thing for me since we met?"

"That so hard to believe?" she asked back, running her hand along the side of his face, feeling the stubble that had really started growing in. "The real question is, how do you feel about this? Us?"

The fighter grinned, "I definitely wouldn't mind, considering I'm still in the same boat as you in that regard." he leaned forward and kissed her again, "As long as you're good with all of this happening so quickly and everything."

Maggie bit her lip, "One thing I've learned with everything that's happened, is that life's too short. I don't want to take anything for granted." she stepped on the tips of her toes and kissed him a third time. "And I've decided that I won't pass up a good thing when it's right infront of me."

When they pulled apart, they silently agreed to continue this discussion another time. Right now they had a job to do.

Stepping up onto the platform, Chris pulled his hatchet out and held it ready. Cans of white paint were splashed around the platform, right under the roof where 'Survivors Inside' was crudely painted by whoever had been here at one point.

But where those people still here? And if they were, were they even 'people' anymore?

Moving along the outside of the building, the couple found a door on the farthest side. Checking it, Chris found it to be locked. "Maybe there's another way in." said Maggie.

In response, the fighter took a step back before kicking forward with his right leg. Striking the door hard enough to splinter the frame and break the old deadbolt that had locked it. Looking toward Maggie, he shrugged, "Sorry, not a patient guy when it comes to locked doors."

The farmer girl rolled her eyes, but half-smiled regardless as they stepped into the station.

It was dark, the windows all boarded up blocking most of the sunlight from the outside save for what was able to pass through the gaps. The smell of dust and rotting wood lingered in the air, along with the familiar scent of decomposition.

Keeping this in mind, Chris stepped farther inside first, Maggie on his heels as they let their eyes adjust to the darkness. Searching the shadows for any kind of movement.

"It looks clear." said Maggie.

The fighter hummed, reaching over, he grabbed a nearby shelf and knocked it over. Creating a loud crash when it hit the floor.

Within moments of the noise being made, two walkers rose to their feet from behind a couple of crates in the far corner and started staggering toward them. Chris gripped his hatchet and approached them, swinging in a wide arc and nailing the first one on the side of the head. The blade of the weapon cleaving into the zombie's temple and taking out chunks of its skull in the process.

The second walker reached out to grab the fighter, mouth open wide to take a bite out of him. But Chris was expecting it, swinging his leg around, he connected a roundhouse kick to it's face that sent it slamming into the nearest wall. Bringing his heel down on the top of its head before the corpse even had a chance to get back up.

Wiping the blood and chunks of flesh off his boot, Chris turned to the metal bars that blocked off the rest of the large room and found a third walker reaching through at him, rotting fingers grapping at the air while it groaned mindlessly.

Shaking off the hatchet, the fighter slipped it back into his belt before taking out his knife and approaching the bars. Avoiding the walker's arms, he reached through and held the back of its head, keeping it steady as he drove his knife through its left eye all the way to the hilt.

The walker went still, slumping against the bars while Chris yanked the blade free and let the corpse drop to the floor.

"You make it look so easy." said Maggie as she came up behind him.

"It is, as long as you know what you're doing." he replied, slipping his knife back where it belonged. "I'll be happy to show you the ropes when we get the chance."

Chris looked at the metal wall, trying the only doorway leading back only to find it locked. And from where he was standing, the key that looked to open it was on the wall on the other side. "Won't be able to kick this one in." he thought outloud, looking up toward the ceiling, he saw open gaps that looked just big enough for someone to fit through.

"Think you can get through to the other side?" he asked turning to the farmer girl. Having her look up at the opening.

"Sure, give me a boost."

The fighter knelt down, cupping his hands together while Maggie stepped into them. Standing slowly, he rose her up high enough to grab the top of the fence. Pulling herself through the opening and dropping on the other side.

"Nothing to it." she said, grabbing the key and unlocking the door and allowing Chris to enter as well. The two of them making quick work of looking through what little there was in the storage. Hitting paydirt when the found a blowtorch sitting inside a crate between a couple of shelves.

"Guess luck's really on our side today." said Chris as he hefted the torch with one hand. "Come on, let's get back to the others and deal with that tanker."

They left the station and met back up with the others who were all seated in and around the train waiting for them. "Any luck?" asked Omid, coming down from the engine car where Kenny was showing him how the train worked.

Chris held up the blowtorch, "Got this in the station, should make quick work cutting the tanker down so we can get through."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Mark.

"I'll come up and give you a hand." said Omid, the two men taking the ladder back up to the highway above and approaching the wreckage.

Sitting the torch on the ground, Chris turned the knob on the tank, filling the hose with the gas. Immediately stopping when he could smell butane in the air. "Fuck!" he cursed, quickly shutting the gas off. "The damn hose has a leak."

"Shit. How are we going to..." Omid trialed off as he looked at a nearby road service truck not too far away. "Hold up a second." he jogged over and opened the back of the vehicle, rummaging through the various signs and traffic cones that were stored there before holding out a roll of bright yellow tape. "Think this'll work?"

"It better." said the fighter as the other man tossed him the tape. Pulling off several strips, he layered them over where the hose was leaking. Making sure that it was tight and secure before turning the gas on again and sparking the end. A jet of flame greeting him as he stepped closer to the hitch and started bruning through the link holding the two tankers together.

The steel hitch was tough, but nothing could withstand 10,000 degrees. The dense metal turning into butter as the torch burned through it.

Chris squinted his eyes, doing his best to not look directly at where he was cutting so that the flashes of sparks didn't hurt his ability to see. "Almost got it. Just a few more-"

"LOOK OUT!" Omid shouted, grabbing the fighter and yanking him out of the way just as the part of the truck still on the road suddenly lurched backward. Coming to a hard stop when the rear of the first tanker slammed into the already damaged guardrail, the second tanker dangling even more over the edge and turning slightly on the now weakened hitch.

"Fuck me..." Chris said, standing back up and dusting his pants off. "Thanks for that."

"No problem, man." Omid replied, looking at the truck and frowning. "But, now what are we going to do? It looks out of reach now."

The younger man looked his way, "We improvise."

X

"What the hell are those two doing?" Christa said in exasperation as she and everyone else in the group looked on as the two men worked on the tanker.

Omid leaning as far out as he could reach, torch in hand as he started cutting the connector between the tankers. Chris holding his other arm and keeping him steady as they worked together to get the job done.

"Doing what men do best when it comes to cars and trucks," said Carley, crossing her arms. "Doing things the hard way."

"Hey, I resent that." said Kenny causing a a couple of the others to laugh.

"I just hope they don't fall." Clementine said worried as she watched her guardian and the other man work.

Maggie put her hand on the girl's back, "They'll be alright, sweetpea. And they should be done any second now, so don't worry."

Mark turned his attention and looked down the tracks where they had come from. Narrowing his eyes, he reached into one of their bags and pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking through them to get a better look.

His face drained of color when he saw what was coming their way.

"Oh, shit...WALKERS!"

X

Everyone looked up and saw what Mark had.

Not even 300 yards away, and closing fast, was a herd of walkers. So many infact that the number couldn't be fathomed as they all moved in one large mass of dead bodies.

"There's gotta be fucking thousands of them..." Chris said, realizing then and there that they all must have heard the train rolling through and followed after it. "Omid hurry up!"

"I'm tryin'! I'm tryin'!" the other man exclaimed as he kept the torch level.

"Everyone get on the train!" The fighter shouted down to the group. "Kenny! Get ready to roll when this thing is down!"

The fisherman nodded and jumped into the engine car while the others got into the box car.

"I...almost...GOT IT!" Omid said, Chris yanking him safely away when the tanker broke loose and dropped to the ground. Tipping to the side, it scraped along the side of the bridge before it landed on the opposite side of the tracks, giving the train the opening to leave.

"KENNY GO!" the fighter bellowed. The train kicking on and moving slowly beneath the bridge.

"Shit! The ladder's gone!" Omid said, looking down at the mangled remains of the ladder after the tanker had crashed into it. "What do we do?!"

Chris looked around, his mind working overtime in trying to find a way to escape. Peering down to where the tanker now laid, he saw pertrolium gushing out by the gallons from a break near the back end.

Narrowing his eyes at the approaching hoard, he put his foot on the still lit blowtorch and kicked it off the bridge. The small tank landing in the growing puddle of gas.

"What are you doing?!" Omid said in shock.

"Making things harder for them." said Chris, grabbing the man's arm when he saw the gas below ignite. "NOW COME ON!"

The fighter pulled the other man to the other side of the bridge, "We gotta jump!" he said stepping over the guardrail as the train started passing below them.

"What?! Are you fucking nuts?!"

"You got any better ideas?!"

Omid looked back at the approaching hoard, trying to wonder which is more terrifying. Desiding that it was better to take a chance, he stepped over the railing and stood on the edge next to Chris. "I still think this is crazy!" he said looking down at the train's roof.

"I know, me too!" the fighter replied as they both jumped.

Chris landed with hard grunt, but managed to stay put. Omid however landed wrong and rolled toward the edge. The younger man seeing that he was about to go over dove after him, grabbing his hand and keeping him from falling, his other arm lashing out and gripping one of the panels on the train car.

Gritting his teeth as both his limbs screamed in protest at being stretched so hard, the fighter refused to release either grip. Looking down toward the engine, he saw Christa and Mark pull themselves up onto the car and rush toward them, helping Chris and pulling Omid back up and out of danger.

"I got you, honey." Christa said, holding Omid close and sending a greatful look at Chris.

"Get in the boxcar, quick!" The fighter said, as he dropped down and swung inside.

"Why? What's-"

"No time! Just do it!" Chris cut off Mark, the other three dropping down and getting inside as well as he grabbed the door and slammed it closed. Seconds before a large explosion was heard that shook the entire train.

There was a few seconds of silence as the vibrations that were felt died down, Carley being the one to finally break it. "What...the hell...was that?"

"Several hundred gallons of unleaded going up like the fourth of July." said Chris said, flopping down with his back leaning against a crate. "Pretty sure it didn't kill them all, but it'll slow them down a whole lot."

"You blew up the tanker?!" Mark shouted in alarm.

The fighter shrugged, "Not one of my better ideas, but it worked. And we're all alive."

"Thank God for that." said Christa from beside her better half. "And thank you, for saving Omid."

Chris waved her off, "You don't have to thank me. We work together to survive." he said simply. Everyone finally able to take it easy as they train put some distance between them and what was left of the undead army.

X

Several hours passed, the sun had begun dipping in sky but still offering a good amount of light.

One of the many things that was seen was the city of Savannah, Georgia. Crawling steadily closer as the train containing the survivors rode along.

From the engine car, Chris smiled in relief. Despite the setbacks, and the few brushes with death, they finally made it.

Leaning back in the driver's seat of the train, he looked over at Clementine who was happily sleeping in another chair close to the windows. She deserved the rest, they all did after the long day they had.

The door opened behind him and Kenny stepped inside. Looking ahead and seeing the city getting closer before them. "Next stop, the Atlantic."

"Amen." Chris said back. "How's everyone back there?"

"Omid twisted his ankle pretty bad back when you guys jumped onto the train." replied the fisherman, "Kat's looking after him though. Says he should be fine as long as he stays off it for a while."

"Good." the fighter replied, stifling a yawn as he stood up. "I think I'm going to take Clem's idea and catch a few winks. Wake me up when we get there."

Kenny nodded as he took the spot Chris left open as he went over to his charge. Smiling down at her peaceful form before kneeling down to scoop her up-

A sudden burst of static had him back upright, looking around for where the sound was coming from and discovered it was coming from Clementine's backpack under the chair. "What the hell?" he muttered as he reached inside and took out her little walkie talkie.

The distortion coming from the speaker clearing up a bit as someone's voice started to come through. _**"Hell...o...oo there?..."**_

"I thought that thing was broken?" said Kenny, his surprise matching that of Chris' as they both looked down at the device.

"So did I..." the fighter said back as the voice came through again, this time much clearer.

 _ **"Can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine. I've got your parents right here, and you be sure to find me, whether Chris wants you to or not. Now, I need you to..."**_

Whatever else was going to be said was lost in static, but for the two men frozen in their place it was nothing but background noise.

Chris looked down at his sleeping charge, the familiar feeling of foreboding filling the pit of his stomach.

Someone was waiting for them in Savannah, and something was telling him that it wasn't going to be a pleasant get together either...

 ** _A/N: And the plot thickens even more. Chris and Maggie's relationship finally gets established, and the group's nearly at Savannah with two new members. But what could be waiting for them when the arrive? And who will make it out alive?_**

 ** _Reviews forever welcome! Update coming soon!_**


	13. Welcome to Savannah

**_A/N: And the final act of the first season of Fight for Survival has begun. And like the Walking Dead series itself, it's gearing up to be one hell of a ride. With plenty of twists no one would see coming._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead._**

The streets of Savannah were as quiet as the countryside had been. The haunting silence that stretched on through every square block in all directions, making anyone who ventured through it fear that even the slightest sound would shatter it and unleash unrelenting chaos.

For the group of eleven survivors, the lack of noise was something they had grown used to far too well. Their joined footfalls echoing off the surrounding buildings as they traversed one of the many roads that led through the city.

Chris was in the lead, Kenny on his right, each with a rifle in hand with the others behind them in a loose 'V' shape. Clementine and Duck in the very middle with Katjaa and Maggie on either side, Carley, Mark, Chuck, Christa and Omid, who was being supported by Christa, around them.

Their eyes looking at every dark corner they passed, doing their best to spot danger before it fell upon them.

Clementine's eyes trailed to her guardian's waist, finding her walkie clipped to his belt next to his hatchet, where it had been since they had gotten off the train.

"Can't I just hold it?" she asked.

Chris looked at her over his shoulder for a moment, "Maybe later, Clem." he said as he turned his attention front again. The girl nodding silently as she cast her gaze to the ground. The other adults looked to her briefly.

After the strange radio message, Chris had gotten everyone together and informed them about the fact someone was expecting them here in Savannah. There was concerns, rightly so considering they knew nothing about the person Clementine had been talking with for who knew how long. But given that they had already arrived, they all agreed to be extra vigilant.

As for Clementine herself, the fighter promised to have a word with her when they found a safe place to set up.

Adjusting his grip on the M16 in his hands, Chris tried to figure out how to approach his charge about this. How long had she been talking to this guy? How much did he know about them? What was he planning?

There were too many unknowns, and he wasn't going to risk the safety of the group if he could help it.

"The river front should just be a couple blocks ahead." Kenny said as they turned a corner, stepping around derelict cars and vacant driveways of once had been a very nice neighborehood.

"I'll give us a chance to look for a safe house too," said Chris, "With any luck we-"

The loud ring of a church bell made everyone stop cold, eyes trailing up to the steeple a few meters away where they could see the bell at the very top swinging back and forth.

"Maybe this city's not as dead after all..." said Christa as the sound echoed all around them.

"Could be on an automatic timer." offered Mark.

"What church bell goes off 17 minutes past the hour?" Carley threw in, looking up at the church. Her wides widening when she saw someone run along the rooftop out of sight. "Someone's up there!"

"What?" Kenny said turning to face her, "You sure?"

The ex-reporter nodded, "I know what I saw. They must have set the bell off."

A burst of static had all attention focused on Chris, who looked down at the walkie;

 _ **"If I were all of you. I'd get out of the street. Now."**_ spoke the same voice that had come through before.

Snatching the device up, the fighter pressed the 'talk' button; "Who the fuck is this?" he demanded, but there was no response. "Hello? Answer me god dammit!" still nothing. "Fuck it. We need to get off the street before..." he trailed off as he looked ahead of them, everyone else following his lead and paling when they saw what he did.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls," Chuck said calmly as a horde of walkers came shambling out into the street and began to converge on them. "It tolls for thee..."

Omid looked back the way they came and found more of the undead coming from that direction as well. "They're coming from this way too. We're boxed in!"

"Move!" Chris shouted as he started moving forward. Slamming the butt of the M16 into the closest walker's forehead, knocking it back and making an opening for them.

The group followed swiftly after him, Carley and Maggie each firing the pistols they had at a few of the approaching corpses. Chuck swinging the shovel he'd brought with him and nearly taking the head off another that got too close.

Kenny fired his rifle into the horde, hitting seveal with good placed head shots, but he didn't see the walker crawl out from under a nearby car and grab his leg as he ran past. The fisherman tripping over and hitting the ground, gun clattering out of reach as the zombie continued to crawl out at it's captured victim.

"KENNY!" "DAD!" Katjaa and Duck screamed when the man went down. The walker preparing to take a chunk out of him when a boot connected hard against its temple and sending it rolling off to the side.

Mark reached down and grabbed Kenny's hand, pulling him up and nodding as they started running again. The fisherman scooping up his dropped rifle along the way.

Chris bashed another walker aside, looking farther down the street they were heading and saw even more skulking toward them. Gritting his teeth as their options started dropping one after the other, he looked toward the nearby houses.

"This way! Get off the street!" he called back to the others as he raised the assault rifle and shot down a couple of the undead before backing toward a walkway that led to the backyard of a large, two story home. Providing support as the group ran past him one after another.

Christa, Omid, Katjaa and Duck bringing up the rear. A cluster of three walkers blocked them off, making it hard for the fighter to get a shot off without fear of hitting someone.

Christa swung a claw hammer she had on her into the temple of the closest one while Omid shoved another away from them. Katjaa backed away, shielding Duck as the last one cornered them.

The side of its head to explode in a shower of blood and grey matter. "Come on!" Chris shouted, emptying the rest of the rifle's clip into the horde. Christa and Omid going past him where the others had gone. Duck ran ahead of his mother and turned to her.

"MOM!"

The fighter turned in time to see Katjaa get knocked to the ground by a female walker, struggling to keep it away from her while others started to gather around.

Chris bolted toward the group of undead, swinging the empty M16 like a baseball bat and knocking them away from the downed woman until he got the the center. Bringing the stock of the weapon down hard on the back of the walker's head with a loud crack.

"I got you, Kat." he said, helping her up before spinning around and punching a walker in the face, both of them running to the walkway where Duck and Kenny were waiting as they all ran behind the house. Mark slamming the iron gate he'd been holding closed and shoving the heavy deadbolt into place.

"Everybody okay?" Chris asked after they all caught their breath for a minute.

"We're good." said Christa, Omid nodding beside her.

"Same here." threw in Carley, Maggie and Clementine giving thumbs up with her.

The fighter turned to Katjaa who was getting checked on by her husband and son. "Kat? You good?"

"Y-Yes, thanks to you." she said greatfully.

Nodding, Chris turned his attention to the house they were currently situated behind. The whole property was surrounded by an iron fence at the back and brick walls around the sides that looked strong enough to keep the walkers at bay for the time being.

Save for a large tree, a shed and an old dog house, there wasn't much else to the backyard of the property. The windows of the house were all boarded up as well, meaning whoever had been here more than likely wanted to ensure their safety from the inside.

"This place is pretty well fortifide." said Kenny. "It'd be a great place to hole up, if we can get inside."

Chris tried the backdoor, finding it locked tight which wasn't a surprise. "Can't force anything open without having that hoarde out front coming down on us again." he looked down and found a dog door built into the human sized one.

Tapping the front of his boot against it, he saw that it too was locked.

"I've seen pet doors like this." said Mark, coming up to join them. "It's designed to stay locked until the animal wants to go in or out. It opens thanks to a chip in the collar I think."

"Collar..." Chris looked over by the dog house and saw a mound of dirt disturbed right beside it. A small cross made with sticks sticking out of the ground at the head of the pile.

Not seeing any other way, the fighter shrugged to himself. "Worth a shot." he went over to Chuck who was leaning against the shed. "Mind if I borrow your shovel?"

The drifter handed it over to him, a bit curious about what he was planning as Chris headed over to the small grave.

"Hey, be careful." said Omid. "Digging up dead things isn't what it used to be."

"Believe me, I know." Chris replied as he started digging. The rest of the group gathering around as he uncovered the small grave of what must have been the family's pet.

"Ew. I can smell it from here." Clementine said covering her nose.

The smell of decomposition affected Chris too, but he simply focused on the task at hand as he uncovered the remains of a small dog. Sticking the shovel into the pile of dirt he made on the side, he knelt down next to the hole and reached in with both hands. Carefully unclipping the collar from around the carcass' neck and standing back up.

"Fingers crossed." he said approaching the backdoor again, holding out the collar to the pet door.

There was a soft click and a small green light appeared on the smaller door. "Well I'll be damned. It worked."

"Yeah, but now we got another issue." said Chris. "None of us are small enough to reach in and unlock the door."

Before anyone could come up with anything, Clementine ran to the front of the group. Dropping on all fours and crawling through the small opening.

"Clem!" the fighter called after her when he overcame the brief shock of her sudden movement. "Clementine!"

The door opened and the little girl appeared with her arms in the air. "Ta da!"

Chris breathed out in relief, "Good job, Clem. But next time, let someone know before you rush ahead. We don't know if any walkers could be inside."

The statement caused the girl to look scared and moved behind him quickly, now realizing that she could have been in very real danger a moment ago.

"Alright, Kenny, Mark, on me, we'll clear the house. Everyone else, stick behind us and keep your eyes open. Don't use firearms unless you have no choice." the fighter instructed, getting acknowledgements all around.

The three men pulled out their knives and entered the house, the backdoor leading into a good sized kitchen that branched out into a dining room to the right and a hallway that lead to the front room where the main door was situated by a staircase on the left and a large sitting room on the right.

"Spread out." said Chris in a low whisper. "Check closets, cuboards, anywhere a body could fit into."

Everyone did just that, breaking off into groups as they checked the whole bottom floor. Finding no sign of life, living or undead.

"Everything looks clear, down here anyway." said Kenny when they finished and the group settled in the sitting room. "Though the issue now is who the hell rang that damn bell and brought the dead down on us. It was almost like they were trying to stop us from getting to the river."

"Could it have been the same guy from the radio you told us about yesterday?" asked Christa from her spot on a couch beside Omid.

Chris shook his head, "That wouldn't make sense. Why would he ring the bell to bring the walkers only to warn us about it seconds later?"

"Nothing around here makes sense anymore." said Carley. "Maybe it was a trap. Something to lure us in and take us out, like more bandits or something."

"Either way, someone's watching us." said the fighter, turning to look toward Clementine who was sitting on the floor beside Duck on the other side of the room. "And it's best that we find out who."

He approached the kids and knelt down infront of his charge who looked up at him, "Clementine, I need to know who you've been talking to on the radio." She looked hesitant, her eyes looking at anything but him. "You're not in trouble, sweetheart. But it's important for you to tell us who this man is. What does he want?"

"I...I don't know." she finally admitted. "But he really seems nice. I think he wants to help us."

"Help us how, sweetpea?" asked Maggie, sitting down beside her. "What have you been telling him?"

Clementine looked hesitant again, "I told him that we were looking for my mom and dad, and that they were in Savannah. He said he might know where to look for them." she said, smiling and hopeful at the end.

But her expression melted away when she saw the unsure faces of those around her.

"Have you told them anything else about us?" asked Chris seriously, "Try to think, this is very important. What else have you told him?"

The girl opened her mouth to speak when a loud thud echoed through the house. Everyone was on their feet, attention aimed at the ceiling where the sound had come from.

"The second floor..." said Kenny, rifle aimed upward.

"Kenny, cover the stairs, I'll go check it out." the fighter said, taking out his pistol in one hand and knife in the other as he moved toward the staircase and crept up the steps slowly to avoid making noise.

Reaching the second floor, he began checking rooms. There were only three, the master bedroom, a child's room, and a bathroom, all of which were clear. The fighter was about to give up the search when another thump was heard above him.

 _"The attic."_ he thought, moving out into the hallway and down toward the end where a trapdoor was situated in the ceiling above.

Grabbing the cord, Chris pulled it open, allowing the fold-up ladder to come down to the floor. Weapons still in hand, he went up into the opening. Immediately getting assaulted by the smell of rot and decay that made his eyes water and nose burn as he pulled himself up into the open space of the attic.

His attention being drawn to a tiny form could be see standing in the light of the large open window.

The fighter blinked, the sunlight streaming into the dark room blinding him for a moment before his eyes adjusted. Pausing were he now stood as he got a better look at what was infront of him.

It was a walker, but much smaller than any he had encountered before. Its body looked to be nothing more than skin and bones, the person it had once been more than likely having starved to death before turning.

Having heard his entry, the walker turned slowly, the vacant, life-less eyes finding him easily enough. But for Chris, he was momentarily stunned.

It was a child, or what had once been a child. A boy, no older than Clementine or Duck wearing nothing more than a pair of dirty underwear. The little walker finished turning, taking a step forward only to collapse to the floor, its legs no longer strong enough to support what little weight there was to it, yet still it tried to reach for him.

Chris simply looked on, still unable to move. In the months he had been in this world he had never encountered an undead child. And even though it was something to be expected, it was still a very hard pill to swallow finally seeing it for the first time.

Taking a deep breath, the fighter slipped his pistol into the waistband of his pants and brandishing his knife. Using his now free hand to hold down the walker's head, he plunged the blade into the temple. The undead child stopped moving and went still.

Pulling the knife free, Chris lowered his head in silent prayer for the boy before taking a sheet from the mattress he must have been sleeping in before he died and wrapped his body in it.

He'd killed a lot of walkers, but this one deserved a proper burial.

With the body tightly wrapped, he scooped it up into his arms and brought it down from the attic. Carrying it down the stairs causing everyone to look his way. "Chris? What happened up.." Kenny trailed off when he saw the small bundle in the younger man's arms.

Chris didn't say a word as he silently walked through the house and out the backdoor into the yard, approaching the grave the dog had been buried in where he laid the body inside beside it.

Taking the shovel, the fighter began to pile dirt in the hole. All the while his mind turning over and over with several thoughts he had never once considered before.

This could have just as easily been Clementine had he not found her when he did. Staying in her treehouse until she died of hunger or dehydration. The thought along haunted him to the very core, and made him thankful that he found her when he did.

Taking another shovel-full of dirt and tossing it onto the bodies, Chris heard footsteps drawing closer behind him. "Chris?" asked Maggie, the concern clear in her voice as he continued to work.

Completely filling the hole, the fighter set the shovel down and took a deep breath. "It was a little boy." he said lowly. "No older than Clem or Duck. He hid in the attic until he starved to death."

He turned around and saw the horrified look on Maggie's face. "I...I put him down. But, he deserved to be buried. I couldn't leave him up there..." Chris felt his eyes burn, for the first time in what seemed like forever tears began to slide down his tired, dirty face. The events of the last few weeks finally catching up with him and breaking down the barriers he'd kept up for the sake of helping everyone else.

Maggie saw this and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around the fighter and embracing him warmly. "It's okay." she whispered, feeling his arms come up and hold her in return. More tears flowing as Chris accepted the comfort the southern-belle was offering to him.

"It's thanks to you a lot of these folks are still alive. But don't forget you're just as human as the rest of us." Maggie leaned back, holding Chris' face and looking into his tired eyes. "We can help you too... _I_ can help. You've been there for me, let me do the same for you when you need it, okay?"

Smiling through his emotional termoil, the fighter nodded as he embraced Maggie again. Thankful that she was there and understood. As much as he tired to be strong for everyone else, at times, he forgot that he also had a breaking point. And with so much happening at one time, he came very close to going over it.

He was just glad that he had a support group too.

When everything calmed down, Chris looked past the fence surrounding the property...and froze.

Sensing his sudden change, the farmer-girl released him and followed his line of sight and gasped.

Across the street on the other side, hidden within the small mist that had rolled in, was the shadowed shape of a man. Standing silently and watching them.

"Hey...HEY!" Chris shouted, running to the fence as the unknown man spun around and ran out of sight. "GET BACK HERE! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!" he continued to shout after him, but whoever it was was long gone.

"What's going on?!" Carley said as the group came out into the yard after hearing all the yelling.

"Someone was outside the gate, watching us." said Chris, "Took off the moment I saw him standing there."

"What?" said Christa in alarm, "Could it have been the same guy who called us on the radio?"

The fighter narrowed his eyes where he'd seen the person vanish, "Not sure, but I don't like it. The sooner we get out of Savannah the better."

"I hear that." said Kenny in agreement. "We should get down to the river and find us a boat. No point in sticking around here longer than we have too."

"Agreed." said Chris before turning to the rest of the group, "Kenny and I will scout ahead, see what we can find. Everyone else stay here, keep the doors locked tight and don't let anyone in unless it's us."

"Can't I come too?" asked Clementine. "My mom and dad can't be far now, maybe we can look for them on the way to the river."

Chris shook his head, "Sorry, Clem, It's too dangerous out there right now. Until we figure out what's going on and who's been following us it's better if you stick with everyone else for now. Don't worry, we'll be back soon."

"But..." the girl tried to say, but her guardian put his hands on her shoulders.

"Sometimes we have to put aside what we want for the good of the group. I know it's tough, but at the end of the day the only ones we can rely on is each other. Okay?"

Clementine nodded hesitantly, "Okay."

"I'll grab my gear, we'll head out in five." said Kenny as he went back inside to get what he needed. The others following after him. Chris turned and looked back where he had seen the man in the street, eyes narrowed before turning to Maggie.

"Keep your eyes peeled, anything out of the ordinary, make sure the everyone's safe."

She nodded to him before they entered the house and closed the door behind them.

X

The streets were silent once again, the walkers having since moved on after the group managed to get away.

Every window and door of every building was boarded up, some with 'Infected' spray painted on them while a select few others had 'Survivors' written on them. All of this coupled with the light mist that had fallen over the city made for a very ominous atmosphere.

Treading lightly up the street that would take them to the river front, Chris and Kenny kept a watchful eye on any nearby alleyways and rooftops. With the knowledge that someone was out there and watching them, there was no such thing as being too careful at this point.

The two men stopped by a car, or what was left of it. The vehicle having been completely stripped of any and all parts and was left as nothing more than a metal skeleton on cinder blocks.

"Walkers didn't do this." the fighter said once he was done checking the salvage over.

"Think there are more people hiding somewhere out here?" asked Kenny, his eyes scanning the surrounding buildings.

"Could be," Chris replied. "Let's worry about finding that boat and get back to the others. No telling what could happen if we're not all-" he was cut off when the familiar ring of a church bell echoed throughout the city.

Both men drew their pistols and swept around them, "Another trap?" Kenny wondered, keeping his voice low.

"No, listen." the fighter said as the bell continued ringing. "It's not the same bell as before, this one's farther away. At least three streets over or so."

Through the ringing, they also heard the groans and growls of walkers drawing closer. Ducking into the alcove of a store front, they peered out and saw a small horde making their way down the street at the other end of the one they were currently on, attracted to the loud ringing like they had been before.

"What the hell's going on in this town?" asked the fisherman in frusteration, keeping his pistol close.

Chris watched the walkers disappear out of sight before answering, "I don't know. But whoever's ringing those bells is purposely drawing the walkers away from somewhere. Like a distraction."

When the coast was clear, the duo started moving again. Being sure to check behind them periodically incase any lagging walkers stumbled their way.

Reaching the waterfront, they stopped and stared.

The pier was a mess. Derelict cars and debris littered the streets and walkways, the docks were crumbling and rotting in the waters they sat upon.

Three boats could be seen nearby, but they were either capsized, run aground, or half sunken.

"Ah, shit." Kenny muttered as he approached the closest one, its back end below the water with the front aimed at the sky.

"Think it can be salvaged?" Chris asked, but he knew that things were starting to look bad for their original plan.

"Maybe. I'll check it out. See if there's anything else along the waterfront." said the fisherman.

Nodding, the fighter headed farther along the walkway. Observing the various stands set up along the opposite side and looking for anything useful. But after a while, he realized that the place had been picked clean a long while ago.

 _"I'm starting to think that we'll have to go with plan B after all."_ he couldn't help but think as he continued walking. Coming to a stop when he saw what looked to be a makeshift wall set up to block the street beyond.

The mist made it hard to make out, so Chris moved a bit closer to see what exactly it was.

When the obstacle came into full view, the fighter paused mid-step and swallowed the bile building in the back of his throat.

The wall was indeed a makeshift one. It had been made through the use of dozens upon dozens of dead bodies, all of them in various forms of decomposing meaning they had been there a while. A few of them were impaled on metal spikes that jutted out from the large pile, these ones groaned and flailed their arms feebily in Chris' direction, but where unable to do anything more.

"What the fuck..." he muttered, finding a couple of signs set up along the pile that read 'Stay Out!'.

"The boat's fucked." Kenny said, coming up behind him. "Hull's cracked beneath the water line, and someone's stripped out the battery...what the hell is that?!" he exclaimed, seeing the twisted creation spread out before them.

"A fate worse than death." said Chris grimly as he turned to the other man, "There's nothing else here. We should move on and try to find another place to look."

Just as they were preparing to head out, movement from atop a building on the other side of the pier grabbed their attention. Both men quickly jumped over the railing beside them and down to the dock below, ducking out of sight just as someone walked toward where they had been.

Peering up to look at the individual, Chris could hardly make out what they looked like. Whoever it was covered themselves completely, a dark-orange jacket with a hood covering their head with a mask covering the lower-half of their face from view.

They had a backpack strapped on, and a climbing pickaxe in hand, ready to be used in moment's notice.

"Where'd they go?" asked Kenny.

"Disappeared into the newstand." the fighter replied. "Could be our bell ringer, and our stalker."

The fisherman held up his pistol, "Then I say we go introduce ourselves, and ring his goddamn bell."

Chris nodded, taking out his gun as well before they crept up onto the street and slowly started making their way to the unknown individual. Preparing to get answers one way or another.

 ** _A/N: Savannah's turning out to be not what everyone in the group was expecting, and with someone watching them from the shadows, there's no telling what might happen in the coming chapters._**

 ** _Update already in the works, I'll keep you all posted._**


	14. Change of Plans

**_A/N: Greetings to all, I am back once again._**

 ** _Season 7 of the Walking Dead ended months ago on a massive note, and we're all gearing up for the war to get underway. While reviewing the last season, and since I've been updating as many of my long neglected stories as I can. I decided that this one here deserved its due._**

 ** _So, with that being said, let the games begin!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead_**

Chris' movements were slow and deliberate, keeping himself low to the ground as he crept across the street toward the newstand where the unknown individual was focused on whatever they were doing.

Kenny moved off to the side, coming around the back of the stand so that he could block off any chance of escape.

Crouching below the counter, gun in one hand and knife in the other, the fighter peered over the wooden surface. Watching the one on the other side as they rummaged through what little there was, scavenging.

Dropping down, he looked over at Kenny and held up three fingers. The fisherman nodded as Chris counted down to zero before standing with his gun raised...

The stall was empty.

"What..." he said just before he heard a noise behind him. Having a split second to dodge left as the serrated blade of a climbing axe stabbed into the countertop where he had been standing.

Snapping his leg back, Chris kicked his attacker in the stomach. Knocking them back several steps, half their face hidden beneath a surgical mask while their eyes narrowed at him.

They attacked again, swinging their climbing axe wide only for the fighter to block their arm. Driving his elbow into their face and staggering them again, allowing him to grab their arm and flip them over his shoulder. His assailant's body hit the ground with a painfilled grunt, Chris pinned the arm with the weapon with his knee while pressing his pistol to their head and knife at their throat.

The air was tense, Chris glared down at his attacker with a cold gaze as they looked back in both hesitation and defiance. It was in this position that he took a more detailed look at who he had pinned down and realized that it was a woman.

"Chris!"

His head snapped up and he looked over his shoulder to see Clementine standing there. "Clem? What the hell are-" the fighter felt his attacker move and pressed the blade of his knife closer to her throat, thumbing the hammer back on his sidearm in clear warning.

The woman raised her free hand in surrender, reaching up and removing the hood of her jacket to reveal a head of short blonde hair. "You're...not from Crawford." she said in clear surprise.

"What the hell's 'Crawford'? Who the hell are you?" Chris demanded.

"Let me up and I'll tell you." she replied. A brief pause passed between them before the fighter got up, gun still trained on the blonde as she stood as well. Removing her mask to reveal a rather pretty face.

With her hands held up in surrender, Chris lowered his weapon. "Kenny! We're all good out here!" The fisherman came from around the newstand, his own pistol trained on the woman as he joined them.

"Who the hell are you people?" the blonde asked, looking between them. Her attention lingering on Clementine a bit longer.

"Answer us first." said Chris sternly.

She nodded and crossed her arms, "The name's Molly."

"Chris. The older guy is Kenny, and this is Clementine." the fighter introduced. The little girl waving at the older woman.

"You guys really aren't from Crawford, are you?" Molly said slipping her climbing axe onto her pack.

"You've said that twice now, what the hell is 'Crawford'?" asked Kenny.

The woman shook her head, "When everything went to shit, some people got together and sealed that neighborhood." she said pointing back at the wall of dead bodies. "Folks willing to do anything to stay alive, stop the dead getting in. I try to avoid 'em."

"How come?" asked Chris.

"Let's just say they have a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who won't, or can't, live by their rules." replied Molly.

 _"Sounds familiar."_ The fighter thought grimly. "How did you know we weren't with them?" he asked outloud.

Molly looked down at Clementine. "Because there are no children in Crawford...Not anymore."

"Why?" asked Clementine, feeling more than a little nervous.

The woman turned and walked toward the wall of speared walkers at the end of the street. "No children, no elderly, no one with an advanced medical condition. Basically no one who might be a burden on the community. Crawford's all about the survival of the fittest. That's how they survived, while the rest of the world went to shit around them."

"Jesus Christ." muttered Kenny

"Well, just the opposite, when you think about it." said Molly as they all looked at the still kicking undead that reached out at them, unable to move.

"What did they do to the children?" said Chris, part of him not wanting to know the answer.

"No one stays in Crawford unless they can pull their own weight. Otherwise, you're just another mouth to feed, another drain on their precious resources." came Molly's reply.

Kenny shook his head, "That's no way to fuckin' live."

"I couldn't agree more." said the blonde woman, the tone she used catching Chris' attention.

"How do you know so much about this place?"

Molly breathed slowly before turning on her heel and walking away from the corpses. "Everyone in Savannah knew. What was going on inside Crawford got passed around like a ghost story. Except this one was true."

"Know anything about bells ringing all over town?" asked the fighter as they stood by the newstand again.

"Yeah, that would be me-"

"So you're the one that's been fuckin' with us!" Kenny exclaimed, shoving a finger in her direction. "Damn near got us all killed."

"Get that finger out of my face grandpa, or I'll shove it up your ass." Molly sniped back, "I wasn't trying to get anyone killed. It's how I get around. I ring a bell in one neighborhood to attract the local geeks toward it, buys me some time to scavenge the areas they cleared out before they wander back."

Chris nodded, "Smart. It really doesn't take much to get their attention, a church bell ringing should hold them for a while."

Molly nodded back and crossed her arms over her chest, "Look, I'm gonna ask you people again; you're not from Crawford, so who the hell are you? What are you doing here?"

The fighter shared a look with Kenny, "We were hoping to find a boat to get out of here and head farther North. Our group is held up in a big house a couple streets over." he looked down at his charge and a look of disappointment crossed his features, "Speaking of which. What are you doing here Clem? I told you to stay at the house with everyone else."

Clementine looked down at her feet, "I know, I just really wanted to help..." she said in a small voice.

"I understand, but you put yourself in real danger coming out here by yourself." Chris said while kneeling down to her height. "What if something happened to you? No one would be there to help you if a walker got you, or if someone else snatched you up. And I can guarantee that Maggie and the others are going crazy with you missing right now."

The girl slumped her shoulders, knowing full well that her guardian was disappointed in her actions. "...I'm sorry, Chris." she said, looking up at him with watery eyes.

Chis sighed and patted her shoulder, "We'll talk about this more when we get back to the others. For now," he stood back to his full height and looked at Molly. "Any chance there's a boat that isn't complete shit?"

"Anyone with a boat took it out of here as soon as people started eating each other." she replied bluntly. "Any that got left behind, Crawford stripped 'em for parts. Cars too."

"There's gotta be something left." Kenny implored.

Molly shook her head, "If there was, do you think I'd still be here? I've been over every inch of this city, this whole place has been picked clean."

"Shit," muttered Chris, "If that's the case, then we better get back to the house and fill the others in. We'll need to find a-" he was stopped when Clementine grabbed his arm.

"Chris!"

All eyes shot around to where the girl was looking, only to find dozens of walkers coming down the street where they had come from before.

"Shit! I didn't expect them to come back this way so fast." Molly said, taking out her pickaxe and sprinting down a nearby alley while the undead slowly started to close in on them.

"What the fuck, HEY!" Kenny shouted as they gave chase. Seeing the woman kick off a wall and use her axe to climb up onto a fire escape on the adjacent one.

"You're just going to bail on us?!" Chris demanded.

"Sorry, I forgot the part of the conversation where _you_ became _my_ problem." the blonde called down to them.

"Don't leave us here, please!" Clementine begged.

Molly's hard features softened, she clenched her eyes for a brief second before she crouched down to the edge of the platform she was on. "Come on! Make it quick!

Chris didn't waste a second as he picked up Clementine and handed her off to the woman as the horde turned and started making their way down the alley. "Oh fuck." Kenny said backing up a step.

"KENNY GO!" the fighter said, cupping his hands hands allowing the older man to step in them before hoisting him up high enough for Molly and Clementine to pull him up.

"Chris, come on!" the girl shouted, Kenny leaning over the side of the platform with his hand outstretched.

Bending his knees, the fighter leapt up and grabbed the man's hand. Only for Kenny to shout in pain, his still healing gunshot wound flaring harshly when he tried to take on Chris' weight and ended up dropping him back to the ground below.

Landing hard on his back, Chris rolled to his feet quickly. The walkers closing in making escape all but impossible.

He spun around and ran for the dumpter that had been blocking the rest of the alley and vaulted over it, landing on the other side and looking up in time to see more undead coming in from the other side.

Gritting his teeth, Chris drew his pistol and fired three shots. Three walkers fell with holes drilled through their skulls but more came to replace them.

"Chris!" Kenny shouted as his friend started to get surrounded.

The fighter kicked a walker in the chest, knocking it back into several others and causing them all to fall over as the sounds of the rest of the horde pounding on the dumpster behind him echoed loudly. Grabbing another walker by the throat in his free hand and smashing its head into the nearest wall.

His eyes glancing to the ground where it lay to find a manhole cover set into the stone.

Switching to his knife, and very aware of the undead closing in, he jammed the blade into the edge of the metal covering as he tried to pry it open.

The weapon breaking with a metallic 'snap!' leaving him gripping only the handle when the metal proved to be too heavy for it.

"NO! CHRIS!" Clementine screamed as more undead closed in on her guardian, tears running down her face just as Molly tossed her climbing axe down to him.

"Us that to get it open!" she called down to him, Chris scooped the tool up without thinking twice and jammed the hook end into the ground. Forcing the cover off just enough to he could grab it with his hands and lift it open the rest of the way.

"GO! I'LL MEET YOU BACK AT THE HOUSE!" he bellowed toward the others. Avoiding the rotten, grabbing hands of the walkers that lumbered after him as he leapt down into the darkness below out sight. The horde crowding around the open manhole after the prey that escaped but unable to reach him now.

"Either your friend's got a lot of balls, or he's insane." commented Molly, overall impressed by what she had bore witness to.

"A bit of both." Kenny replied with a knowing smile before looking down at Clementine. "Com'mon Clem. Let's get back to the others."

The girl didn't budge, eyes locked on where Chris had gone with her hands gripping the rail infront of her tightly.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, the fisherman spoke gently. "He'll be alright. If there's one thing I know about Chris, it's that he won't let a bunch of corpses stop him from getting somewhere. He'll get back to us soon."

Clementine closed her eyes, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall as she nodded. "O-Okay." she sent one last look at where her guardian had disappeared and prayed that he would be at the house when they arrived.

X

Landing on the wet stone under the street, Chris had a moment to right himself before having to stumble back as two walkers fell from above and landed on the hard ground with a series of sickening crunches.

One of the undead was down for the count, but the other tried to snap at him despite both its arms and legs being broken.

Taking Molly's axe, the fighter burrowed the blade-end into the walker's head, silencing its growls before looking up the way he came.

The horde that had been after him were all crowded around the opening, their decaying arms reaching down at him while their moans and snarls echoed off the surrounding walls.

"Definitely not going back that way." Chris said outloud before looking back into the tunnel he had dropped into. There was nowhere else to go but forward at this point.

Pulling the climbing axe from the dead walker, the fighter started making his way down the tunnel. Keeping low to the ground with his back to the nearest wall so that nothing could sneak up on him from behind.

Ears strained to pick up any noise from closeby, eyes scanning the shadows for anything that could pose a threat. All the while trying to figure out what his group was going to do now that the first plan was no longer an option.

Even if taking a boat wasn't possible, the main plan was to keep heading North. They needed to get out of Savannah and back into the country, the longer they stayed the more the chances of them getting in a bad way increased.

But there was another issue that hadn't been addressed by everyone. The sudden increase in their numbers meant that what supplies they managed to keep wouldn't last very long. If they were to make it they needed to restock big time, but if what Molly was telling them was true, then there was nothing left in the city...except for what was contained within Crawford.

Chris shook his head, deciding to work on figuring out their next move when he got back to the others as he focused on navigating the sewers.

Ducking down, the fighter gently slid his way down a steep runoff toward the lower level. His boots crunching softly when he landed in a small pile of partially eaten rats that laid scattered around.

Grimacing at the sight, Chris snapped his head up when he heard growling from somewhere ahead. Crouching, he crept along the wall toward a bend in the tunnel that went right where he peered around to find a group of five walkers all crouched over the same spot. The sound of tearing and chewing mixed with the usual sounds of the undead telling him all he needed.

There was another tunnel directly to the left, right next to the feasting walkers, and looked to be the only way out. _"If I'm quiet enough, I could sneak past them without any trouble."_ he thought while looking over his options carefully. Switching the climbing axe to his left hand and drawing his pistol in his right, just encase.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, the fighter eased out into the open. Treading across the tunnel to the adjacent wall and moved slowly and deliberately along the stone, being sure to not make too much noise as he eased his way toward the next tunnel.

A walker sat up, making Chris freeze in his tracks, it's mouth dripping crimson with bits of flesh hanging from broken teeth while its soulless eyes gazed off in another direction before it dove back into its feast.

Breathing out softly, the fighter continued moving. Reaching the turn and slipped around the corner to find the new tunnel empty save for a lone walker crouched at the far end.

Clear path ahead, Chris slipped his pistol back into his pants and maintained his slow and quiet pace as he approached the distracted undead. Climbing axe ready as he closed in to-

Something grabbed onto his leg, making him stumble and drop his weapon with a sharp clatter that alerted the walker ahead. Looking down he found a second one within the grate he had been walking over, its rotten fingers digging into his pantleg as it tried in vein to bring him through the bars.

When he looked up, he saw the other undead already up and making its way toward him. Without hesitation, the fighter picked up the axe and slammed the blade at the end of the handle into the arm holding him. A sharp twist all that was needed to get him free as he came up with an upward swing, the serrated blade of the axe going up through the walker's jaw and into its brain.

Gently laying the corpse down, Chris looked back and was thankful to see the rest of the walkers were still distracted by their meal to notice. Pulling the blade free, he reached the end of the tunnel and found a similar set up like where he had dropped into the sewers.

Light shined brightly down from an open manhole in the ceiling, a ladder leading down to his level that had been broken in the middle, the lower half laying on the ground infront of him.

"Shit." he cursed under his breath as he tried to look for another way out. After about a minute of searching the small space, he realized that there wasn't any other way.

Looking up at the remains of the ladder, Chris remembered seeing Molly rebound off a wall back in the alley to get up to the fire escape. It seemed the same idea could apply to this situation. It was at least worth a shot.

Gripping the climbing axe, the fighter looked toward the wall behind the ladder where a large 'No Dumping' sign was placed. Bracing himself a moment before running at the wall and jumping, planting his foot on the sign and preparing to rebound off-

But the moment his foot made contact in the center of the metal the fighter was sent crashing to the ground when it suddenly came loose. Falling off the wall to reveal a large hole that had been smashed through the brick and mortar.

"The fuck?" Chris said as he dusted himself off and looked through the opening. Where ever the passage led was black, but he could makeout some kind of room on the other side and the distinctive shapes of shelves along the walls.

Looking back the way he came, and seeing no other options avaliable, he decided to try his luck. If it got him back to the others, back to Clementine, it was worth the risk.

Stepping through the opening, keeping his senses high, he looked around the room he was now in. When his eyes adjusted to the dark, he couls see that there were shelves lining the walls; shelves filled with food and water.

Chris was surprised at first, then he made out a sign stuck to a wall that marked the room as a fallout shelter.

 _"I can't help but see the irony."_ the fighter thought as he spotted a door on the far end of the room with light coming out under it from the other side.

Attaching the climbing axe to his waist, he took out his pistol and approached the door, grabbing the handle and twisting it softly before bursting through. Weapon raised and ready to fire...

He hadn't been expecting four sets of eyes to look back at him in alarm.

Stopping cold at the threshold, Chris lowered the pistol a bit and prepared to speak when the sound of another weapon clicking drew his gaze to the left where an olderman with grey hair and a beard was aiming a revolver at him.

"Wh-Who are you?" he demanded, hands shaking as he gripped the powerful gun.

"Easy." the fighter said, lowering his arms and holding them out to his sides in surrender. "It's okay. I'm not here to cause trouble."

"And we don't want any trouble." replied the man nervously. "Which is why you'd do well to turn around and leave. R-Right now."

Chris knew right there and then that the man was scared, and had clearly never fired a gun before. But that didn't mean he wouldn't pull the trigger. He needed to tread very carefully here.

"Okay." he said, keeping his hands in view and weapon aimed away from the terrified group. "I'll leave. I didn't mean to surprise anyone." he began moving back to the door when a slightly heavy-set woman stepped forward.

"You can't let him leave! He's from Crawford! If he goes back there and they find out we're down here..."

"Are you from Crawford?" asked the old man. "And don't lie to me, I'll know."

The fighter shook his head with a scowl, "I'd rather feed myself to the undead than be part of a group that throws out innocent people and children. I came with a group here to Savannah from Macon earlier today looking for a way to head North, but we got separated."

The man thought on his words, "I have a brother in Macon. How was it out there? As bad as here?"

Chris shook his head again, "Sorry, sir. The whole town was infested when we left."

"You can't trust him, Vernon! You can't let him leave!" the woman exclaimed.

"What do you want me to do? Shoot him in the head?" Vernon asked.

"Why not? That'd be more mercy than anyone from Crawford ever showed us. Think, Vernon! What do you think they'll do if they find out we're down here, right under their feet?"

Vernon sighed, "You're right." he said, raising the gun at Chris. "I'm sorry, friend. But I can't-"

Chris spun, kicking the gun from the man's shaking hands and sending it clattering to the side while aiming his own at Vernon's head. The air in the room going silent and very tense as everyone held their breath.

"For the last time, I'm not from Crawford." the fighter said, lowering his gun and slipping it in his jeans. "And I refuse to hurt people who are only looking out for their own." he cast a look at the woman, "I lead my own group, I know how hard it can be."

"You're...really not from Crawford?" asked Vernon.

"I'm really not. But I've seen their handy work." replied Chris.

The old man breathed out slowly. "Well, we are. Or were. We got out of there when they started sealing up the place, started weeding out the sick and the old so their perfect survivor society wouldn't be threatened. No room for weakness or vulnerablility in their little master race."

"You folks sick?" asked the fighter. "Because none of you look too old."

"Were sick." answered Vernon. "We're all members of a cancer survivors group that used to meet here at the hospital. We're in remission. But that wasn't enough for Crawford. They'd already rounded up five of us before the rest of us managed to hole up and hide from them down here. This old basement's been abandoned for years."

Chris looked around the basement and took in the medical tables and the slabs that pulled out of the walls. "Is this a morgue?"

"Yeah. Irony's always high on my list when I'm looking for a place to survive." said the old man. "How did you find your way down here?"

"Me and someone else from my group were hoping to find a boat. Use it to travel up the coast and avoid the mainland. But we got cut off by walkers. I was surrounded and jumped down in the sewers to escape, I followed the tunnels and wound up in the store room back there through a break in the wall." Chris explained while pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the door he came through.

"Well that system you came through runs all over the city, it'll take you wherever you wanna go." Vernon replied with an encouraging smile.

Chris nodded, "It would be pretty easy, but the tunnels are like a maze. Any chance you got a map of the system so I can make it back to my people?"

"Why should we help you?" the woman from before demanded.

"Brie, that's enough." Vernon said sternly in return.

"Because a made a promise to a little girl, and I never break a promise." the fighter snapped back. "If you won't help then fine, but I'm getting back to my little girl."

The statement ended up surprising him as much as it did the others in the group. "She's your daughter?" asked Vernon.

Chris sighed, "Not exactly. We've been together through a lot, and I vowed to protect her from anything that would try to hurt her. She's important to me, and she gives me a reason to keep going."

Vernon nodded seriously, "Well...we can't have you be away from her like that, now can we? I'll take you back to your people."

"Vern, what the hell are you doing?!" exclaimed Brie in shock.

"It's alright." the man said before turning to the fighter, "I had a daughter, lost her in the first days when everything started to fall apart. From the way you're sounding, it's pretty easy to tell that you think of her as your own, and I'll be damed if I watch that happen to someone else."

Chris smiled gratefully, "Thank you."

"But we need you here." said one of the other men in Vernon's group.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it." replied the man.

"I'll make sure he gets back." promised the fighter, "It's the least I can do in return for the help."

Vernon nodded his thanks before bidding a couple goodbyes to the people of his group, leaving a couple instructions here and there while he was out before the two of them went back into the tunnel Chris had come through.

By that point, the walkers that had been eating were milling around. Their dead eyes turning to the two men and started to lumber in their direction.

"Stay behind me." Chris said to the man as he pulled the climbing axe from his belt, approaching the closest walker and swinging to the side. The blade burrowing into the undead's temple and killing it while he spun with the momentum, throwing the corpse off his weapon and sending it crashing into another and knocking it over.

Bringing his foot up, he kicked another walker in the chest and making it collapse at the base of a nearby wall before kicking the same foot out and crushing its skull against the stone.

The two remaining walkers closed in, the fighter slammed the blunt side of the axe into one's forehead, caving it in before turning his attention to the other one. Flipping the climbing tool around and ramming the blade in the handle up through its jaw and the roof of its mouth.

Pulling the weapon free, Chris went over to the second walker as it struggled to get out from under the corpse he threw into it. Raising his foot and bringing it down heel-first on the center of its face, its body going still quickly.

Vernon looked at the dead corpses a moment before glancing at the young man before him, "You...certainly know how to handle the undead." he said a bit hesitantly.

"I've had plenty of practice." the fighter replied with a shrug, "Don't worry, I promised your people you'd come back to them. I'll keep my word."

Nodding to the younger man, the duo set off into the bowels of Savannah. Chris hoping to be reunited with the others quickly.

 ** _A/N: Still keeping true to the game's plot, but making a few alterations here and there for the sake of originality. I'm a bit on the fence with how to take the next step, since the idea of using a boat for the large group Chris has compiled is all but a moot point right now, but I have faith that I'll come up with something kickass for your enjoyment._**

 ** _One of my reviews had informed me that Chris has a tendency to act like a 'super hero', and that his group may or may not function well without him. On a small note, this is kind of true. But much like Rick and the Atlanta survivors, they had a rather rough start in the beginning as well, everyone clinging onto one to lead them until they found the strength needed to stand WITH him instead of BEHIND him. And that's how I'm taking things for now._**

 ** _Chris is tough, he's got good knowledge, skills and resourcefulness. But that doesn't mean everyone's completely dependent on him, although he will be the trailblazer to help them survive._**

 ** _I can't wait to see the reviews, so till next time folks!_**


	15. Crawford

**_A/N: And here we are once again. With the new season of the Walking Dead currently on hiatus due to the recent deaths of not only the narrator, but also a stunt man on set, many of us fans are left with a great sense of sympathy for both men and their families along with what will happen from here on out._**

 ** _I decided to take this time to keep my own story going for the time being while offering my condolences to those grieving for the loss of two good guys who helped make the series something awesome for us all._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead._**

Vernon had been right. The sewer system beneath Savannah's streets literally went all over the city and proved to be the safest route to avoid the walkers above ground.

Save for a few of the undead that had somehow stumbled into the catacombs below, Chris and his guide had little trouble traversing the tunnels. Within half an hour, they were back on the surface and going through the front door of the house where the fighter's group was holed up.

The moment the door opened everyone inside had a gun aimed at the entrance, only to lower them and smile in relief when they saw who it was.

"Chris!" Maggie exclaimed, quickly moving to the front and hugging him tightly.

"You had us worried for a while, friend." said Kenny grinning. "Though knowing you, I knew you'd make it back eventually."

The fighter nodded, "Yeah, ran into a bit of trouble. Thankfully I had some help." he motioned to Vernon who stood off to the side observing. "This is Vernon, him and his group are set up in the basement at the local hospital. They're also refugees from Crawford."

"Molly told us about Crawford." said Carley with a scowl. "I thought the St. Johns were bad. Throwing out the elderly, the sick and kids? That's a whole new level of wrong."

"That's why my people got out of there the first chance we got." said Vernon. "Like I told Chris here, we were part of a cancer survivor group, all of us in remission, but it wasn't enough to prove our 'worth' to Crawford."

"That's horrible." Katjaa said in sympathy.

Chris looked around and found a couple people missing, "Where's Clem?"

"Upstairs." replied Christa pointing a thumb over her shoulder toward the staircase. "The new girl's in the kitchen, she'll probably want to talk to you too."

Nodding, the fighter headed up the stairs first. Finding his charge and Duck sitting in the smaller bedroom, both kids on the bed while the boy tried his best to cheer his friend up. The sound of the door creaking open drew their attention, Clementine's eyes lighting up when she saw him standing there.

"CHRIS!" she shouted, jumping off the bed and running into him. Her small arms hugging him tight.

"Hey, Clem. Miss me?" Chris asked while patting her back.

The girl smiled brightly at him, "I knew you'd come back. But I was so scared when those walkers were everywhere. I thought I'd lost you." she said, burrowing her face back into her guardian's stomach.

"It'll take more than a bunch of corpses to keep me down, sweetheart." the fighter replied before turning his attention to Duck. "Thanks for keeping her company, I owe you one little man."

Duck grinned and saluted him, "Clementine's my friend. I'd never let you down."

Chris shook his head smiling. Then he remembered the status of things and became serious. "Listen, I need you both to come downstairs with everyone. The whole group needs to be together for this."

The kids looked concerned, but nodded as they all headed back down to the lower level of the house. The fighter spotting Molly coming out from the kitchen and heading his way. She looked down at his waist a moment before meeting his eyes;

"You got got something of mine." she stated bluntly.

Chris unclipped the climbing axe from his belt and handed it to her, "Thanks for letting me borrow it. Really saved my ass."

"I'll bet." the blonde replied as she took in the blood stains on the blades. "You got a pretty big group here, really wasn't expecting that. The redneck that was with you at the river said you're the leader."

"Yeah, I am." said the fighter honestly. "Managed to get everyone this far."

Molly smirked, "If that's the case, what's your next move without anymore boats in the area?"

Motioning to the living room where everyone was already gathered, "Was about to tell everyone at once, you're more than welcome to join in." Chris said before going in to join the group.

When everyone was situated, he stood at the front to address them. "No doubt Kenny told you all the bad news." he stated clearly, the grim looks he got in return all he needed to know as he took out the map he had gotten back on the train, "Even without a boat, our plan still remains the same." he continued while laying out the map on the coffee table in the middle of the room.

"This map here is all the train tracks that intersect throughout Georgia. The train can take us up North as long as there isn't anything blocking the tracks."

"And what if we encounter a block?" asked Mark from his spot between Carly and Omid.

"Then we try to move it, if we can't we'll either need to find new transportation or go on foot." said Chris. "I know it's not a stellar plan, but it's all we got at this point. And we can't stay in Savannah much longer with so many walkers still prowling the streets."

Kenny sat up straighter in the loveseat he shared with Katjaa, "So we leave as soon as possible, right?"

The fighter sighed, "Right...but there's another issue at hand. Since we left about half our supplies back at the motor inn when we fled, and with our group now bigger we won't have enough to sustain us for very long. If we're going to make the trip, we need more to keep us going."

"But, Molly said the city has been picked clean." Carly threw in. "Can we find more resources on the way?"

"The train makes a lot of noise when it moves." said Christa, "You saw the large herd when Omid and Chris dealt with that tanker, if we keep starting and stoping we'll just keep attracting more."

"She's right." said Chris. "I'm not against looking for more supplies when we have the chance. But we need to make stops like that few and far between."

"We could try Crawford."

All eyes turned to Maggie who sat beside Clementine. "If there's nothing out on the streets since they stripped and looted everything. Any and all supplies that we need would be within their walls."

"Now wait a minute." Vernon said, making himself known. "How do you expect to get anything from them? I know what these people are like. They just take what they want and you'll be lucky enough if they let you live."

Chris thought long and hard, on the one hand they needed the supplies in order for his group to travel. But was it worth the risk with everything they had heard about Crawford? Could he put his people in that much danger?

Looking around, seeing the uncertainty among those he had vowed to protect, he needed to make a choice. And at the moment there weren't many options.

"Then we should adopt one of their beliefs." the fighter said catching everyone's attention. "They just take what they want and to hell with everyone else? Then we shouldn't feel guilty about taking their shit either."

"And how do you propose we do this?" asked Chuck, "If what Molly says is true, then you won't be able to simply walk through the front door."

Vernon put a hand to his chin, "But there might be another way. I know the sewer system that runs beneath Crawford like the back of my hand." he looked down at the map carefully, "I think I could lead us through so we could pass under their perimeter and right into the center, where they keep their supplies. We come up right underneath them, take them by surprise, grab what we need and get out before they even knew what hit them."

"It's not a bad idea." said Molly.

Chris looked at the older man, "I take it there's a reason for you helping us, Vern?"

The man nodded, "The people of my group are running low on antibiotics and other medical supplies. Being the only doctor, I need as much as I can to keep my people in good shape. I help you get in, I can get what I need to help them. Deal?"

"Deal." the fighter said shaking his hand before looking at his own group, "Thoughts?"

Kenny stood up, "We get what we need and stick it to those bastards? Why not."

"If it helps us in the long run, its worth it atleast." added Mark. Everyone else giving similar acknowledgements.

"Alright then, when the sun goes down Vernon and I will take a small group into the sewers and break into Crawford. I'll need everyone else here keeping an eye on things while we do this, if we're not back by sun up, then I want you all to get the hell out of town as quickly and safely as you can. Understood?"

This time people were hesitant, the idea of things going wrong hindering their earlier beliefs. In the end everyone eventually agreed as they started to prepare.

X

After a couple hours it had been decided that Carly, Omid, Molly and Chuck would accompany Chris and Vernon into Crawford. The doctor had returned to his own group, letting them know of the plan with the promise of coming back before midnight.

Everyone had taken the time to take stock of their current supplies. Chris going over their weaponry with careful eyes and figuring out what would be useful for their raid that night.

Ammo was a little on the low side, they would have to conserve as best they can, and take out anyone in their way quickly and quietly if possible.

Fixing homemade silencers to the three 9mm handguns they had in their possession, the fighter looked up to see Molly looking over their wares.

"You certainly have an eye for weaponry." she commented while looking over his hatchet.

"Ammo maybe in short supply, but blades and blunt objects don't run on them." said Chris while finishing his task with the handguns and picking up the M16 next, checking the last clip for it and making sure that it was full. "Didn't expect you to stick around." he added offhandedly to the blonde.

Molly crossed her arms, "If you guys gotta way out of this shithole, then I'm tagging along. Besides, you owe me for saving your ass back at the river."

The fighter nodded, "Got it. You're free to stick with us, or we'll take you as far as you want when we get out of here. It's up to you."

Nodding in return, the blonde turned and left the kitchen without another word. "Well, she's pleasant company." said Maggie as she came in from the other room.

"She's no different than us. Just trying to survive and get by one day at a time." replied Chris as he finished going through their weapons. "Her skills in scavenging would also be pretty useful, and we aren't exactly in the position to refuse addition skills like that."

The southern-belle nodded in understanding before giving him a strong look, "Chris, I want to go with you all tonight. I want to help where I can."

"You sure?" asked the fighter, "I'm all for the extra help out there, but we might end up killing people. Are you ready for that?"

Maggie was hesitant before answering, "I can't say I'm happy about taking another life. But at this point there isn't much choice now is there?"

Chris half-smiled at her strength before peering over her shoulder to see Clementine peeking into the kitchen from behind a doorframe. "Something wrong Clem?" he asked.

"Is it going to be dangerous?" she asked.

"Is what going to be dangerous?" her guardian asked in return.

"Crawford."

Chris sighed, "I won't lie to you, sweetheart. It is going to be dangerous, but it's the only way for us to get more supplies."

Clementine looked at her feet, playing with the hem of her hoodie. "I don't want anyone else to die." she said in a small voice.

The fighter knelt down and put his hands on her shoulders, "I don't want that either, Clem. But sometimes we have to take that kind of risk."

His charge nodded, "Okay, then I guess I better go get ready." she said before heading to the stairs.

"Whoa, wait a minute." Chris said stopping her with a hand holding her arm. "Ready for what?"

"To go to Crawford." answered Clementine. "Molly said Crawford is the only place left in Savannah that still has people. That means it must be where my mom and dad are, right?"

"Molly also said that it's dangerous for children there as well." the fighter said shaking his head. "You're a big help and then some, but I won't put you in danger like that."

"But, Chris-"

"No, Clem." Chris said sternly.

Anger flashed across her young face, "You said that we need to stay together, always! And I've been training with you to protect myself!"

"From walkers." Chris said back, keeping his frusteration in check. "These are people, like the bandits. And a lot more dangerous, you're not ready just yet."

Clementine's face melted into one of sadness and looked to the floor again, her guardian putting a hand under her chin and making her look up at him again. "We won't be gone long, a couple hours tops. And if your folks are there, we will find them and bring them back with us."

"Promise?" asked his charge.

"I promise." vowed the fighter.

Nodding, Clementine went back upstairs, more than likely to spend time with Duck while Maggie came up beside Chris. "Do you think her parents are really in that place?"

Chris sighed, "Honestly? I don't know. And if they aren't, I don't know what I'm going to tell her when we get back."

X

Several hours later, darkness fell over Savannah. The group gathered together in the backyard of the house as they waited for Vernon to return and lead the raid group into the sewers.

Kenny had managed to get into the shed that was established there and came out with an assortment of things to add to their stockpile, including another hatchet, an axe, crowbar and an aluminum baseball bat.

Chris took the bat and strapped it across his back with some small rope that had also been found. Making sure that he also had his hatchet, pistol and two knives.

Everyone else also had a knife and handgun on them in addition to a backup weapon. Molly with her climbing axe, Carley with the crowbar, Maggie the hatchet, and Omid the axe.

Chuck had his shovel over his shoulder and a revolver in his coat, the old man looking ready to storm the gates with the rest.

In the midst of their preparations, the group looked up when they heard the gate opening and saw Vernon stepping through with Brie right behind him.

"Who's she?" asked Kenny, motioning to the woman.

"This is Brie, she can help us." said Vernon.

"How so?" asked Chris interested.

"I used to work at the school where Crawford keeps their supplies. I know the layout." answered Brie.

"With her help we're in an out faster." said Vernon, "Anyone have a problem with that?"

The fighter shook his head, "Just making sure." he turned to the ones who would be staying behind. "Kenny, you're in charge until I get back. Keep everyone safe and together."

Kenny nodded seriously, "You got it. You all just get back here in one piece, okay?"

"Let's get moving, we're burning moonlight." said Molly as they started to file out.

Chris stopped long enough to give Clementine a hug, "Keep an eye on things for me. Help Kenny and the others keep this place safe for when we get back."

"Okay. Please comeback." replied his charge.

The fighter nodded and placed a kiss on the top of her head before he went through the gates with the others. Closing it behind him before climbing down the open manhole in the street infront of the house.

Once in the sewers, Vernon led them through the labyrinth of tunnels beneath the city. Dealing with a couple of stray walkers that were skulking around, the older man stopped infront of a metal ladder and looked up.

"This should be it. We're right underneath the center of Crawford, the old school should be directly above us." Vernon said in a low tone.

"Alright, this is it guys." said Chris to the whole group. "Remember the plan. Stay quiet, get in, grab everything we need and get out. Don't engage anyone if you don't have to, and stay together."

Everyone gave their confirmation and readied themselves as the fighter ascended the ladder. Pushing the covering at the top up just enough to peer out into the dark, silent streets above ground. When he was sure that there wasn't anyone nearby, he carefully lifted the lid up and slid it aside as he climbed out. Silenced handgun aiming in every direction before signalling for the next person to come up.

When they were all out in the open, the stayed low and quickly skirted off the street and to the side of a large building. Keeping to the shadows and staying hidden.

"Where is everybody?" wondered Vernon. "There should be guards patrolling."

"Could they be switching shifts?" asked Omid, clutching his crowbar tightly.

"Maybe...but it's strange." said the older man.

Carley saw movement at the end of the street and pointed, "There. I see one." The others followed her line of sight and saw a man with his back turned to them while looking at the other streets ahead.

"Okay. Omid, with me. We'll go and try to take him out quietly." said Chris. "The rest of you, wait for my signal and get ready to move."

The two men kept low and crept out into the open. Moving silently toward the lone man's back. The fighter taking out one of his knives and preparing to take him down while Omid stuck close to his heels, ready to support.

When they reached the guard, he suddenly turned. Both men froze when they saw a pale face with the top-right half of its the skull caved in.

"FUCK!" Omid suddenly blurted as the walker lunged for them.

Thankfully Chris was faster, meeting the undead head on and driving his knife through its remaining eye socket. Taking it to the ground where he yanked the blade free and stabbed it again for good measure.

"What the hell is a walker doing in here?!" said Maggie lowly as the rest of the group joined them above the undead corpse.

Chris went to say something when he saw movement. Walkers started climbing and crawling out of every hole and opening around them. "And it had friends. Move!" he exclaimed before they made a brake for the front door of the school, quickly running inside and shutting the entrance to keep them from getting in.

"Do you think they saw us?" asked Omid as the fighter took nearby flagpole and used it to brace the door for good measure.

"What the hell happened around here? I thought this place was supposed to be secure?!" said Carley, keeping her eyes on the door's windows and seeing if they were being followed.

"Like what always happens." Molly threw in, "The dead always wins."

Chris suddenly had a thought, "Maybe they didn't know..." he said looking at the others.

"Know what?" asked Vernon.

"How the infection spreads." clarified the fighter, "It's not just the biting that turns people. If someone dies from anything that isn't head trauma they come back as a walker."

This bit of news shocked everyone save Carly. "He's right." the former reported said. "We saw this happen ourselves."

"So...your saying that no matter what, we become one of them?" said Omid wide eyed.

Chris nodded grimly. "When one of the people in our group was shot and bled out, I had to get him in the head to make sure he didn't turn. We're all infected."

A dead silence fell over the group as they did their best to take in this new information. "Well...fuck." Molly cursed.

"The situation still hasn't changed." the fighter said, garnering their attention again. "If everyone here in Crawford's turned, that only leaves walkers to deal with. We can handle that, and it makes things a little simpler."

"How do you figure?" said Brie.

"He's right." said Vernon. "Before, the people here were smart and armed. Now their dumb and they aren't."

Chris nodded, "Exactly. So let's get what we came here for and get going."

With that being said, the group started moving. Following Brie as she led them farther into the school. The fighter stopped when he saw that one of them was unaccounted for and turned back to see Chuck sitting by the entrance. "Chuck?"

"Ya'll go on ahead. I'll keep watch on the door and make sure our friends outside don't decide to come in for a visit." replied the homeless man.

Deciding that it was a good idea to have someone watching the front, he left the man to it as he caught up with the others. Treading lightly down the hallowed corridors that had once been a thriving place of learning for the next generation, now it looked condemned, the suffocating silence making the whole place seem all the more empty and lifeless.

Blood stains could be seen on various surfaces, and shell casings litered the floors telling them that a hard fought battle took place here. But from what they were seeing thus far, the citizens of Crawford were unsuccessful.

They soon came upon a door that had been boarded up and marked with red paint. Rabid growls and snarls could be heard on the other side, telling them what lied on the other side and why it had been sealed off.

Moving past it, Brie brought them to a door leading into a classroom and stopped. "Here." she said to the others.

Chris stepped to the front and looked inside, finding no sign of life, living or otherwise. "All clear." he reported before going in first.

The classroom looked to have been meant for 2nd graders or lower, converted into somekind of makeshift HQ. The whole part of town that was marked as Crawford was drawn up on the blackboard with a series of readouts posted along the sides. Chairs and desks were set up in random spots facing the front, and in the back corner was another door with children's drawings on it wih a sign that read 'Armory' taped over it.

"This must be their command center, or something." said Omid as he looked over the map.

"So, what now?" asked Molly. "Where do we start looking?"

"Here." said Brie as she motioned to a smaller map that was posted to the wall beside the door. They all gathered around as she started pointing things out. "Food is located in the cafeteria. And the armory is over there." she finished, pointing at the door in the corner.

"What about medicine?" asked Maggie.

"The Nurse's station." said Molly, pointing to the spot on the map.

Chris sent her a look, "How do you know?"

The blonde blinked and looked uneasy for a brief moment, "It...just makes sense, doesn't it?" she said, looking away.

Not buying it, but deciding to worry about it later, the fighter went back to the map and thought about how to go about getting what they need. "Okay. Brie, you know the layout best. You and Carley go to the cafeteria and gather as much food as you can carry without slowing you down too much. Omid, use that crowbar of yours and try to get that armory open."

"I'll go for the medicine." said Vernon.

"I'll come too." said Maggie. "My father was a vet, I'll know what to look for."

"What are you going to do, Chris?" asked Omid.

Looking at the map again, the fighter tapped his finger over a part called 'Motor Pool'. "There will probably be a lot of useful stuff here. We might need tools and any other salvage that could be laying around at a later date. Given my old job, I'll know what to look for."

"I'll come with you, watch your back." said Molly.

Everyone immediately got to work, leaving the classroom and going in separate directions to get what they needed. Chris and Molly taking one of the many branching hallways that would take them to an alley that led to the autoshop.

All the while, the fighter couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched...

X

Outside the school, unnoticed by the roaming walkers, someone stood in the shadows of a building across the street. Eyes narrowed before ducking farther out of sight.

 ** _A/N: A few good changes, but plot is still pretty spot on. But there will be a lot more to what will go down in Crawford than what was in the game. Of that you can be sure._**

 ** _Keep the reviews coming guys, and I'll have the next update ready to go in no time._**


	16. School of the Dead

**_A/N: You gotta love it when I get on a roll._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead_**

The silence throughout Crawford's dark streets was only broken by the sound of a walker groaning somewhere nearby. That alone was enough to keep Chris on guard as he left the school through an exit and made his way quietly down a flight of metal steps.

Knowing that he and the others would only have to deal with the undead was both a blessing and a curse. The good being that the walkers would be easier to work around compared to other humans. However, they wouldn't be able to take on a whole hoarde should they decide to start surrounding them.

This in mind, they really needed to get what they were looking for and get out before what remained of Crawford came looking for their next meal.

Reaching the ground level and looking around, the fighter was quick to notice that the one he was paired up with was MIA.

"Molly? Molly, where are you?" he whispered loudly, hoping to hear something in return. But instead he was only met with the wind and the growls of the undead.

 _"Fucking-A, where did she go?"_ Chris thought in frusteration. Ever since they arrived at the school the blonde had been acting strange, and even though he wasn't completely sure, the fighter had a feeling that she knew a lot more about this place than she originally let on.

It would be something he'd need to grill her on later, right now he needed to stay focused. Creeping silently through the alley, back to the nearest wall with his hatchet at the ready while he kept all his senses aware of anything closeby.

Unaware of the shadowy figure that moved along the rooftops above him.

X

The way to the auto shop was blocked by a makeshift barricade covering a chainlink fence. Luckily, a nearby shed had an opening in the ceiling that was just big enough for Chris to fit through as he climbed up the shelves in the small building and dropped on the other side.

Checking his surroundings to be sure nothing was nearby, he started making his way to a garage door set in the side of the building on his left. Grabbing the handle with both hands, the fighter attempted to lift it upward only to have it stall after an inch or two.

"Shit. Jammed from the inside." he muttered to himself as he looked to large door over. Trying to locate another way into the building when he heard a hard impact behind him;

Spinning around, hatchet raised, he saw that it was a walker laying flat on the asphalt. Blood already spreading around its limp frame from where it had fallen.

Chris immediately took notice that what had once been a man wore bloodied green scrubs. A doctor maybe? He bent down to get a closer look-

"Leave him!" his head snapped up in time to see Molly drop down at the other end of the alley, her mask in place and her climbing axe clenched tightly in hand. "He's mine."

"Where the hell have you been?!" the fighter said back, only to be ignored as the blonde walked past him and started kicking the body on the ground with extreme prejudice. Her axe stabbing and slashing at it moments later as she literally began to tear the thing apart.

"Hey? HEY!" Chris exclaimed as Molly started to get increasingly violent, grabbing her from behind and attempting to restrain her as she thrashed like a wild animal, "MOLLY!"

"WHAT?!" she shouted back, breaking free from his grip and glaring at him.

"He's DEAD. What's gotten into you?!"

The blonde spun and stabbed the body in the head several times with her weapon, "You kill geeks your way, I'll do it MY way." she said darkly as she bashed the corpse's skull to a paste.

Taking a step back, Chris let the woman work out whatever she was going through. Keeping an eye out so that all the noise she was making didn't attract any more walkers.

She was done after about another minute, bending over and holding her knees as she took deep breaths. "You done?" the fighter asked.

Molly nodded, not saying anything.

"You gonna tell me what the fuck that was about?"

"Did you find a way in?" she asked in return, changing the subject.

Chris clenched his jaw, his irritation with her mounting, "Doors jammed."

The blonde reached into her pack and produced a crank-jack, "This should help then."

Looking at the tool a moment before taking it off her hands, the fighter fixed her with a strong leer. A full blown interrogation at the tip of his tongue when loud banging could be heard on the other end of the alley.

A trio of walkers had indeed heard the ruckus Molly had been making and were slamming their decaying arms on an already bent fence. The chain-link rattling with each strike, bending farther and farther inward and attracting more with all the noise.

"Dammit." Chris cursed as he went to the door, Molly right beside him and holding it open just enough so that he could slip the jack beneath it and start cranking.

The fence at the end of the alley crashed to the ground, two walkers falling with it while several others lumbered over them and made for the duo. Thankfully, the crank did its job. Opening the door wide enough so that they could slip underneath and into the garage on the other side.

Chris pulled out his hatchet, remaining in a crouch as he stared at the opening as the walkers moved around outside. None of them seeming to be aware of where they had gone but staying close to where they had been.

"That was close." said Molly. "Take a look around. I'll mak-" she didn't get to finish as the fighter grabbed her, slamming her into a nearby wall with his forearm across her neck and hatchet at his side.

"We wouldn't be in this position if you didn't lose your shit just now!" he hissed quietly in her face. "I'm not stupid. You obviously have some kind of history with this place. And it proves it when you just performed meatball surgery with your axe a minute ago on that corpse."

The blonde grit her teeth and looked anywhere but Chris' eyes.

"What happened here, Molly?" he asked more gently, loosening up his grip.

Molly clenched her eyes, "When the outbreak went down, I came here to Crawford with my sister...she had diabeties and needed regular insulin shots. When the asshole who ran this place started weeding out the elderly, the sick and the kids I did the best I could to hide her condition. She was just old enough to avoid them throwing her out for that, but they wouldn't hesitate given how she needed treatment."

She looked at the fighter with tears gathering in her eyes, "I...I had to do _things_ to make sure my sister was taken care of. But it wasn't enough...I couldn't...she..."

Chris understood everything she was telling him immediately and took a step back, letting Molly go through her emotions for a moment before speaking. "That asshole outside, he was one of the doctors here, wasn't he?"

He received a nod, the fighter sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry." he said in sympathy. "I wish there was more I could offer, but it's all I have."

"Just get me the hell out of this fucking town when it's all over." Molly said, wiping her face. "I'll watch the door and make sure none get in."

Chris nodded to her and went about looking through everything in the shop. The feeling of nostalgia brief as he took in the smell of oil and metal that he had been used to once upon a time.

On the immediate left of the garage door was a Peterbelt truck that looked to be in running order, beside that was a four-door sadan up on a hydralic lift and was more than likely being repaired before everything fell apart in the community.

A blinking red light that could be seen reflected on the cars windshield told the former mechanic that it had an active alarm, meaning he had to take care not to set it off while he worked.

Thankfully it was up out of reach.

Taking out a folded up dufflebag, Chris opened it up and set it on a nearby counter as he started going through boxes, cabinets and benchs. Gathering up small tools, batteries and an assortment of other items that could prove useful sometime down the road.

"You really think you're going to need any of that?" Molly asked from her post.

"A wise man once said; when you need it, and don't have it, you sing a different tune." the fighter replied as he grabbed a full box of nails and put it into the bag. "You'd be surprised how useful certain things one would think are useless can actually be."

The blonde couldn't help but agree with his logic as he worked.

X

Unknown to the pair, someone watched them with great interest through the skylight above. Eyes focused on Chris as he continued to fill the bag before him.

Peering over the edge of the building and seeing the undead that had lumbered into the alley where they had just been. Turning back to the scene below them, the individual picked up a rock the size of a baseball and threw it into the garage.

X

Chris and Molly both snapped their heads up when they heard glass breaking above them. Their eyes going up in time to see something sailing through the air and toward the lifted car.

The fighter could only watch, time slowing down and his heart dropping as the projectile reached the vehicle and smashed its windshield...the blaring screech of its alarm pierced the air not even half a second later.

"What the fuck?!" Molly shouted over all the noise. But Chris didn't bother to answer, instead he ran to the lift's controls and slammed the button that would lower it to the ground.

He had to stop the alarm before the noise brought every single walker all over Crawford ontop of them.

The lift remained inert, the fighter slammed the button again and again with the same result.

"FUCK!" he shouted, discovering the controls had no power to them. He quickly looked to the hose that held the hydralic fluid to operate the lift and pulled out a knife, slashing the rubber tubing and sending the thick substance splattering across the floor.

The lift hissed before dropping to the ground hard, the car rattling as its alarm continued to screech. Chris was under the open hood fast, grabbing the wires connected to the battery and ripping them off, the sound coming to an abrupt hault, leaving only the growls of the walkers outside that were now attempting to crawl under the open door.

"Shit!" Molly cursed as she drove the blade of her axe through the first one that made it through.

"Forget them! Get to the top of the truck!" the fighter bellowed, grabbing his bag and zipping it up before running to the large vehicle and ascending to the roof, the blonde joining him seconds later as the garage started filling up with walkers.

All of which converged on the truck and started to rock it back and forth.

Molly looked up and saw the broken window above them, "Above us! Give me a lift!"

Chris saw where she was pointing and quickly dropped down, holding his hands together and giving her a boost up high enough to climb through the opening.

Taking the bag, the fighter tossed it up through the window after her before she came back and held out a hand for him. Grabbing the offered limb just as a couple rotten hands latched onto the top of the truck, he was pulled up and out into the night air.

X

After a bit of running and jumping along the rooftops. Chris dropped down back into the school from a hole in the ceiling made by a fallen tree. Looking up to see Molly remaining where she was.

"You coming?" he asked, adjusting the bag's strap on his shoulder.

"Not yet...there's something I gotta take care of first. Try not to leave without me, okay?" the blonde replied before taking off before he could answer.

Chris shook his head and started back to the classroom where hopefully everyone else was waiting. All the while trying to figure out what the hell happened back at the garage.

Something falling through a window and setting off the only car with an alarm? There was no way in hell that was a coincidence. Someone threw the damn rock either to trap them or kill them. Which meant that perhaps Crawford wasn't completely dead afterall.

He was passing by the double doors where the stairs leading to the first level of the school was located when they suddenly burst open.

Carly, Brie and Chuck came flying through and slamming the doors behind them just before several walkers started pounding on the other side. "A little help!" the former reporter shouted.

Chris dropped the bag and took a claw hammer out of it, running over to the doors and using the tool to seal it and allowing the three that came through to breathe easier.

"That should hold them...for a while." the fighter said as the horde of undead steadily got bigger on the other side. "Everyone okay?"

Carly nodded, "Yeah. Got a bit close there. The damn things were locked up in the cafeteria, if Chuck haden't shown up..." she trailed off when she looked at the older man and saw him clutching his arm, blood seeping through his fingers. "...oh god."

Seeing this, Chris approached the man, "Chuck?"

Chuck sighed solumly. "One of 'em got lucky when I was helpin' these two. Guess this is the lord's way of sayin' my lucks run out."

"I'm sorry." the fighter lamented, feeling guilt creep up on him.

"Don't go startin' that. This here wasn't your fault." the old man said sternly. "Besides, I'd do it again for you folks. You're good people. Don't deserve a fate like that." he finished, pointing at the walkers outside.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Brie.

Chuck smiled, "I still got some fight left in me. But when the time comes..." he lingered off, his intention clear.

"I'll take care of it." said Chris. They gathered their bags, the two woman the ones they managed to fill with a good deal of food before they were attacked, before making their way to the classroom where Omid was coming out of the now open armory.

"Any luck out there guys?" he asked as he set a few things on a nearby table.

"Good so far." replied Chris as he set his own bag next to the others' on a different table. "How'd you make out?"

The dark-skinned man sighed, "Not so good. The place was picked pretty clean. But there were a couple of pistols and a 12-gauge in an open locker with a couple half boxes of ammo." he said pointing to what he had spread out. "It's better than nothing."

"Better than what could be expected at this point." said the fighter, clapping the other man on the shoulder. "Where's Maggie and Vernon?"

Omid shrugged, "I don't know. They haven't come back yet."

A bad feeling slipped into Chris' gut, telling him something wasn't right. "I'm going to go and check on them. Molly had to go take care of something so she should be back anytime now."

"Need help out there?" asked Carly.

"No, thanks. Just make sure everyone is safe and secure here. We're going to need to find another way out." the fighter replied as he left the classroom again and made his way toward the Nurse's Station.

Following along the halls, being sure to double check the doors he sealed while the walkers continued to bang on the opposite side, he rounded the corner and looked to where the room was located-

Stopping in his tracks and ducking out of sight back around the corner when he saw six walkers all crowded around the sealed door. Doing their best to try and get inside.

"Fuck..." Chris muttered as he peered around and took in the opposition. Knowing that Maggie and the doctor were held up inside or the undead wouldn't be trying to get in.

He thought about using his gun, but he didn't want to waste the ammo if he didn't have to, which left him with only one option. Luckily the school hallways were wide and offered plenty of moving space as he pulled out his baseball bat before going around the corner and standing in the open.

Letting out a sharp whistle that attracted the walkers, the fighter quickly approached the closest one and swung hard. The blunt object rang dully while cracking the undead's skull open and sending blood and grey matter splattering across the wall.

Now fully focused on him, the small group started to move in his direction. Chris smirked as he swung upward when one got close. Knocking its head back, neck splitting open like a pez dispenser, before it collapsed to the floor.

A kick to the midsection had a third walker stumbling back enough for the fighter to raise the bat and bring it down on the top of its head with a sickening crunch. The creature falling face first to the ground unmoving while he swung at another and ended up taking its lower jaw clean off and sending it spinning down with the rest.

The remaining two walkers came at him at the same time. Chris shoved them back out out of reach before dropping the bat and pulling out a knife. Crossing the distance and stabbing one in the temple before coming around and stabbing the other through the eye.

Taking a moment to calm his nerves, the fighter didn't see the jaw-less walker was already back on its feet and coming at him from behind. The gurgling sound it make the only warning he got as he spun around to defend-

A soft chirp broke the air as the walker's forehead exploded outward. The body dropping to the floor to reveal Maggie standing in the now open doorway to the nurses' station with her silenced pistol raised.

Chris couldn't help but grin, "You know, we gotta start keeping score of how many times you cover my ass."

Maggie smiled back at him, "Maybe we should. Are the others okay?"

"Yeah, they're back at the classroom where we started." the fighter replied as he entered the office where Vernon came out of hiding. "How what happened?"

"They must have come and heard us looking around in here." said the older man. "The whole school is most likely infested. We've been trapped before you came."

"What about medicine? Did you find anything?" asked Chris.

Vernon motioned for him to follow, "That's our other problem. Take a look" he said standing infront of a metal cabinet. Medical supplies could be seen through the criss-cross mesh of the doors which were sealed with a numerical lock. "They were keeping the prescription meds in here, locked up tight."

"Could we bust it open?" wondered the fighter as he looked over the cabinet.

"Not likely. Seen these kinds of safes back at the hospital. They were designed to not let anyone in who didn't have the four-digit combination." said Vernon.

Maggie took it from there, "We looked around the office for it, but came up empty. We were about to head back when the walkers came."

Taking his eyes from the safe, Chris looked around the nurse's station. Doing his best to try and figure out how to go about this. They needed the medical supplies, they wouldn't last too long traveling without them if someone got sick or injured. There had to be a way.

"You sure there wasn't anything that could give a hint?" he asked.

"I did manage to find a couple of medical files the staff here had on hand." said Vernon, moving over to the desk and showing the half-dozen folders spread out on it. "But other than that, nothing."

Curious, the fighter flipped open the one nearest to him. A picture of a young woman with light-brown hair clipped to several papers greeted him. Along with a small video tape. "What's this?" he wondered, picking up the tape.

"I was curious about that myself." said Maggie while Chris looked toward a camera set up on a tripod that was aimed at the room.

"One way to find out then." he said going to the device and slipping the tape into the compartment on the side. The small screen on the other side coming to life and showing the trio what had been recorded.

X

 _"This is day eighty-two since the outbreak. Fifteen-fourty seven. Doctor Logan in consultation with patient Anna Correa." a man said off-screen while a young woman sat on the bed infront._

 _The doctor came around when the woman asked, "Why are you recording this?"_

 _"Regulations Oberson has ordered me to keep records of all medical examinations and consultations." answered Logan. "I need you to brace yourself, Anna. The sonogram confirms that you're pregnant."_

 _Anna put her face in her hands, "Oh god, oh god, oh god..."_

 _"As you know, the rules are clear. The termination is mandatory." the doctor said without a hint or remorse._

 _"You don't have to tell them." the expecting woman pleaded. "Tell them it was nausea, that you gave me something for it and it went away. This is my problem, not yours."_

 _Logan shook his head, "If Oberson finds out that I concealed evidence of a pregnancy...I'm sorry, but these are the rules." he turned and approached the safe with the medications. "I'm going to give you a sedative. It'll make the procedure easier on you."_

 _"I don't want the procedure! I want my baby!" Anna screamed. "I can't do this!"_

 _"Anna, you don't have a choice." the doctor said, "Now if you like you can take some time with this, but I need you to come back no later than tomorrow. Or I'll have no choice but to inform Oberson myself. I'm sorry."_

 _The woman got up and ran from the room while Logan went to the camera and shut it off._

X

"Dammit, we almost had the combination." said Vernon.

Maggie looked to be having trouble forming words at what they had just watched, "What kind of place was this? Who would do that to people?"

Chris clenched his fist tight enough for the cartalidge to crack, feeling even less sympathy for the fate of the people that ran Crawford. "Guess karma was a real bitch in the end for them." he said, taking the tape out and tossing it away.

"Chris, there's gotta be other tapes. One of them has to have the combination on it." said Vernon.

"That doctor looked familiar." said the fighter, "He looked like a walker I saw Molly deal with out in the alley a little while ago. He might have something still on him."

"Go check to be sure, I'll stay here and see if I can dig something else up we might have missed." the doctor said back as he got to work.

"I'm coming too," said Maggie. "You might need the help."

Chris nodded as they stepped out of the office, moving around the bodies outside and heading back to the same door he had went through with Molly some time ago.

"How are the others?" the farmer girl asked as they descended the metal stairs into the alley.

"Omid, Carly and Brie are okay, they found a lot of supplies that were left around. Molly went off to take care of something herself...as for Chuck." the fighter shook his head sadly, "The old man got bit helping Carly and Brie escape from walkers."

"Oh no." Maggie said in shock, "Is he..."

"Not yet." Chris replied, knowing where she was going, "He said he wanted to keep going for the time being. But when it comes time I promised to take care of it." They lapsed into silence after that, making their way to the same fence the fighter had gotten over before and finding the coast clear despite the small hoarde that had been attacking earlier.

Getting up and over the fence, the duo looked toward the farthest end where the adjacent barrier still layed on the ground. A lone walker in green scrubs dragging itself along the pavement toward it.

"Guess Molly didn't finish him off after all." said the fighter as they approached the crippled zombie. Its head turning, hearing their approach and started crawling at them instead.

Raising his foot, Chris brought it down hard on the back of the walker's neck. The crunch of its neck breaking echoing off the hearby walls as his boot came down a second time on its head, finishing it off.

When he was sure that it wouldn't start moving again, he crouched down and started going through the pockets of the man's scrubs. Maggie keeping watch as he pulled out another small video tape and a slip of notebook paper.

"I think this is what we need." the fighter said holding up the tape.

"What about the paper?" asked Maggie.

Chris looked at it carefully and saw that it had the man's name, the number 21, and a three digit combination written on it. "Looks like some kind of assigned sheet, maybe for a locker?" he said with a shrug.

"They probably assigned all the important folks lockers inside the school to keep belongings and other valuables." said the southern-belle.

"Then we'll check it out on the way back through to the office." said Chris as he slipped the items in his own pockets. Pausing his action when he saw another walker limp past the now open end of the alley, oblivious to them in its trek as it disappeared out of sight.

"Better get moving." the fighter said softly, the couple moving quickly and quietly back to the school.

X

Vernon looked up from his search in time to see Chris and Maggie come back through the door. "Any luck out there?" he asked, hoping for the best.

The fighter held up his hand which had two tapes in it.

They had found Logan's locker not even a couple feet from the nurse's station with a bloody handprint on it. Using the combination on the paper that was found, they got inside and found the other tape among the man's belongings.

Both of them were dated after October 10th, days after the first one they all watched. The code they were looking for was bound to be on at least one of them.

"Let's check these out, get that code and the meds and get the hell out of here." said Chris as they gathered around the camera again. The fighter slipping the tape that he found on Logan's body in first;

X

 _The video began, showing the pregnant woman, Anna, sitting on the bed with her head in her hands._

 _"Have you made a decision?" asked Logan from off screen._

 _"I thought you said I didn't have a choice?" Anna asked back, bitterly._

 _The doctor came around into view, "Well, techinically you do. You can terminate the pregnancy, or leave Crawford. Of course that would be a death sentence for both you and your unborn child."_

 _The woman breathed out slowly, "Maybe that's best, I stayed up all last night thinking about this. Why are we even trying to survive, to keep on living, if this is what it takes? What it turns us into?"_

 _"I don't make the rules, Anna." Logan said, attempting to be gentle._

 _"Doctor, I'm begging you. Please help me." Anna pleaded._

 _The man shook his head, "Maybe one day, when things are different, you can try again. But for now, today, we have to do this." he said with finality as he approached the safe._

(Chris zoomed in and saw the four numbers the doctor punched in to open it.)

 _A flurry of movement was seen as Anna launched across the room and grabbed a scalpel from a nearby table. Logan barely had time to register as she stabbed him in the side several times before grabbing his gun and taking off._

 _"No..." the doctor whimpered as he slowly slid to the floor. "No, no..." gunshots could be heard in the distance before he collapsed to the floor. His hand coming up just as the tape ended._

X

"That answers the question of how Crawford fell." said the fighter. "The doctor turned after Anna killed him, no one would have expected walkers to get in a completely different way."

"Serves them right after all they've done." Vernon said grimly. "At least we got the combination, now we can get into that safe." he went over to the locker and punched in the numbers, the door coming open easily. "We're in business! Antibiotics, morphine, everything anyone would need."

"Take it all." said Chris as Maggie took out the bag she had brought with her, she and the doctor filling it with the safe's contents in no time.

When they were finished they stood up and got ready to leave, "What about that third tape?" asked Maggie.

"We got what we came for, it doesn't matter." replied the fighter as they left the room and started making their way down the hall to the classroom.

Passing by the hole in the ceiling just as a familiar blonde dropped down from above.

"Jesus Christ!" Vernon jumped, Maggie raising her pistol while Chris had his hatchet out.

"Dammit, Molly! We could have killed you!" The fighter said as they relaxed.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make anyone jump." Molly said with her hands raised.

Chris shook his head, "Did you take care of what you needed?"

The blonde nodded, "Yeah, I did." she discreetly slipped something into her back pocket, out of sight from everyone.

"Alright. Let's get back to the others before-" a loud ringing somewhere nearby cut Chris off. "Time to go." he said as they moved quickly to where the others were waiting.

They made it past the blocked doors when the glass windows shattered, dozens of rotting arms reaching in through the openings at them as the whole frame buckled. The hammer used to keep the doors sealed fell out from the constant hits, the undead spilling into the hall in a flood.

"RUN!" Chris bellowed, taking out his pistol and firing into the crowd of walkers.

 ** _A/N: A series of scene skips with a cliffhanger at the end. Hopefully I made Kirkman proud._**

 ** _The season finally is drawing steadily closer, the next couple of chapters are going to be long and will be ones many of you have been waiting for in several ways. But I won't ruin the surprise until then._**

 ** _The more reviews I get the faster I type, I'll have the next update soon._**


	17. Moment of Comfort

**_A/N: Hey everybody...I gotta say that it's been a pretty bad couple of weeks for our celebs out there. Not only did we loose a couple people from the Walking Dead, we also lost George Romero, the godfather of zombie horror, and recently Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. It's been rough for all us fans out there, and my own prayers go out to Chester's wife and kids. He was a good man and an amazing artist._**

 ** _The season finale of this story is fast approaching, and like Kirkman himself, I intend on making it one to remember. For this installment...well, lets just say it has some content in it that several of you have been asking for, for a while now..._**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead._**

There was a brief moment where Chris forgot how many walkers he had put down since he started shooting...but the moment his clip ran empty he realized full well that it didn't make any difference.

For every one he put down, five more would take its place. Dozens upon dozens filling the halls of the school like a flood of undead that surged at the survivors in a seemingly endless tide.

When he and the others got back into the classroom, he slammed the door closed and grabbed the nearby bookshelf and knocked it down behind it. "Barricade the door! They're coming!" he shouted behind him.

Everyone was in motion, grabbing tables, chairs and anything else heavy enough and braced it against the door as the small window shattered with several arms reaching in trying to grab them.

"That should hold them." said Vernon as the makeshift barricade started to rattle from the sheer number of walkers on the other side.

"But now how do we get out?!" Brie exclaimed in panic.

"There's a staircase in the armory!" Omid called out, "It might take us to the roof!"

Chris slapped a new clip into his pistol, "Good enough for me." he said in agreement as the door to the room collapsed inward. Several walkers attempting to climb over it but were hindered by the furniture on the other side. "Grab the supplies and let's get the fuck outta here!"

Maggie, Brie and Carley grabbed the food while Vernon kept a tight hold on the medical supplies they found in the nurse's station. Omid took the guns and ammo which left the other things found int he auto shop to him.

"Molly! Make sure they get up there!" the fighter ordered, the blonde nodding as she led the group up the stairs in the back. When he reached the door last, he saw that someone wasn't with them. Looking back into the class room, he found Chuck standing there, shovel in one hand and revolver in the other.

"Chuck?" he asked as the barricade gave away more.

The old man turned to him and smiled, "Ya'll get outta here. I'll keep 'em off yer back."

"But-" the fighter was cut off when the opening to the room gave away completely and walkers started pouring in.

"It's my time, son." Chuck said as he turned to look grimly as the approaching undead. "You just make sure that little girl of yers grows up. Ya hear me?"

Chris bowed his head a moment, "It's been an honor, sir." he said before running up the wooden stairs after the others.

"The honor was mine..." the homeless man replied before taking a swing at the closest walker...

X

The trip back to the house was bitter sweet, to say the very least. The whole incident had drained the survivors in a lot of ways, and all they wanted to do was return to their respected groups.

When they arrived there was happiness all around that they were back safe and sound...until Chris told them the truth about what they had discovered behind Crawfords walls. And about Chuck's valiant last stand to give them a chance to get away.

Everyone prayed for the homeless man, who's kindness was more than a lot of people would have expected in the new world they were now in.

Taking a bit of time to recollect themselves, the group got together with Vernon and Brie and divided up some of the supplies like they had agreed upon. When the two cancer survivors had everything they needed, they wished the other group the best before making the trip back to their own people.

"It's good to have you guys back." Kenny said as all the adults sat around the living room together.

"Agreed." added Christa, who kept her arms around Omid as if the man would disappear into thin air. "...It's, just too bad not everyone made it back."

Chris nodded from his spot in a recliner, Maggie sitting on his lap with her head on his shoulder, "Chuck was a good man. And I don't intend on letting his sacrifice be in vein." he looked at his group seriously, "We leave first thing in the morning. The city's filled with walkers and not much else. The sooner we get out to the countryside, the better."

"What do you hope to find out there?" asked Molly while she sat on the arm of the couch Kenny and Katjaa were on.

"Less population, more open space. Easier to see trouble if it comes." replied the fighter. "As for what I _hope_ to find, I'll let you know when we find it. Right now our only goal is to survive, and to do that we need to be on the move."

"What about Clementine?" asked Carley. "She's still hoping to find her parents out there."

Chris sighed deeply, knowing full well that this was coming sooner or later. "There's nothing to find out there. Whatever isn't dead or undead has moved on."

"What are you going to tell her?" asked Katjaa with concern, for both the little girl and the young man who protected her.

"The truth." said the fighter, having Maggie get off his lap so he could stand. "If she hates me, then she'll at least know I didn't lie to her."

The others all looked at him with sympathy, and hoping for the best as he made his way to the stairs. "Need a hand?" Maggie asked, coming up beside him.

"Not this time. I gotta do this alone." Chris said getting a kiss on the cheek for luck from the southern-belle before he made his way up the steps and toward the small room where he knew the kids were at.

Opening the door softly, he saw Duck asleep on the bed, but Clementine was still wide awake and drawing on a piece of paper by candle-light.

Hearing the door, she looked up and beamed brightly. "You made it back!" she exclaimed, immediately getting up and running up to hug him. Thankfully her outburst of joy didn't wake Duck.

Chris knelt down and hugged her back, the joy in her voice making the already building ache in his chest grow more and more. When the embrace broke, his charge saw the look on his face and her happiness bled away fast.

"What's wrong? Did-Did you find my parents?"

The ache cracked even more.

"Come with me, Clem. We...We need to talk." the fighter said calmly as he stood up, taking her hand and leading her down the hall to a study a couple doors away.

"Am I in trouble?" asked Clementine.

"No, sweetie. But it's something really important." Chris replied as they sat down on the padded cushion infront of a big window. "When we got to Crawford...it was infested with walkers." he admitted, making his charge gasp. "We managed to get the supplies we needed, but Chuck got bit in the process. He stayed behind to give us a chance to get away."

Tears gathered in the girl's eyes, knowing that Chuck was nice and didn't deserve to die like that. "B-But...my mom and dad...they could still be alive...right? I mean, they could have left Crawford when the walkers attacked? Right?"

The fighter didn't know how to respond, he wanted to tell her that there was a chance, but that would only feed her more false hope. He couldn't keep doing that to her. Forcing her to hold onto something that has a staggering chance of not being true.

"Clem...I...I don't know." he admitted, shaking his head. "There are no more living people in Savannah. There's nothing but walkers out there."

The news hit Clementine like a spike to the heart. Chris could see what little hope there was in her eyes die to almost nothing. It crushed him to see this, but she needed to know the truth.

When she spoke again, her voice was small. "They...They could still be out there though. Looking for me...We could keep looking."

"I'm sorry, baby girl." the fighter said shaking his head. "We're leaving tomorrow. It's too dangerous to stay in the city any longer."

Clementine closed her eyes tightly, her tiny shoulders shaking as she started crying. Sobs quaking her whole body as she wrapped her arms around herself. "You...You promised me..." she whimpered.

Chris felt like the worst person on the face of the Earth. He reached out to hold her, but his charge shifted away from him, her usually bright eyes now glaring at him in anger. "You promised me!" she all but screamed.

"I know I did, Clem. But-"

"NO!" the girl shouted. "You lied to me! You said we'd find them! YOU LIED!" she stood and started hitting him in the chest with her small fists. "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!" she bellowed again and again with each strike.

"Clem! CLEMENTINE!" Chris shouted back, grabbing her shoulders and moving her back while she kept trying to hit him more. "I did everything I could! All I ever wanted was to protect you, to do what's best for you! I never lied!"

His charge seemed to calm, but the hurt and anger remained in her gaze. "I'm sorry..." he said, tears in his own eyes as he tried to get through to her. "I know you hate me. And if it makes you feel better then go ahead, I won't stop you. But I also won't stop caring about you like you're my own."

Clementine's look didn't faulter, tears continuing to cascade down her tan cheeks. "You're not my daddy. And you never will be my daddy." she said icily as she got back up on the window sill, curling in on herself and turning her back to him. "I wish you never found me..."

It took every bit of strength still left in Chris' body to simply stand, the weight of the little girl's words hitting him harder than any blow he had ever taken.

Unclipping her walkie-talkie from his belt, he set it down on the desk in the room before turning and leaving silently.

When the door closed behind him, the fighter let out tears and a silent sob of his own.

X

Hours had passed, and everyone in the group had settled down for the night. Hoping to get as much rest as possible before they left the next day.

The only one not asleep was Maggie. Whose green eyes was focused on the ceiling above her. The others having taken sleeping residents around her with blankets, towels and pillows they found around the home.

They all heard the yelling not long after Chris went upstairs. Duck having come down after the first few minutes, asking his parents what all the noise was about that woke him up. When the yelling stopped, that's when they heard the crashes. Like furniture being thrown around.

Kenny wanted to go up and check on his friend, but Katjaa told him to give him and Clementine their space. Knowing full well that the fighter wouldn't let any harm come to the girl.

When all the noise finally died down, no walkers having heard anything from outside thankfully, that was when everyone turned in. But sleep eluded the farmer girl no matter how hard she tried.

And she knew the reason why, and she wouldn't get a wink until she did something about it.

Being as quiet as she could, Maggie got up from her makeshift bed and slowly crept upstairs. Checking the surrounding rooms before she got to the study where she saw Clementine asleep on the window sill.

Smiling at the girl, the southern-belle turned and made her way to the last room, the master bedroom, and opened the door...What she saw made her gasp.

The whole house had been ransacked, that much they all knew, but the large bedroom looked to have been through a hurricane on top of that.

Dressers overturned with drawers laying all over the place in pieces, lamps and bedside tables smashed, vanity mirror shattered, and there were an array of dents and holes in the walls that looked to have been made by fists.

Maggie's green eyes took in all the damage before centering on a rocking chair that was pointed at the only window where Chris was. Hunched over with his head in his hands as he sat in silence, the growing light from the rising sun illuminated things just enough to show the farmer girl that both his knuckles had dried blood on them.

"Chris?" she asked softly. When there was no reaction she entered the room and closed the door behind her and approached slowly.

"Chris?" she called again, coming up next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. He still didn't speak, but he did raise his head to look at her. Maggie fighting another gasp when she saw the usual confident gaze she was familiar with was now bloodshot with dark rings around them.

The fighter looked hurt. Emotionally devistated... _Defeated_.

Without a word Maggie dropped down and embraced him, pulling his head to her chest and running her fingers through his hair. Comforting him like she used to do for Beth when she was younger. She knew Chris was holding on by a thread, seeing as much when she watched him bury the young boy in the backyard.

Yet he always kept himself strong. For the group, for Clementine, all while everything cut him just as deep, if not deeper, again and again. His charge's words must have had been enough to push him over the edge, leaving him to finally break.

Seconds passed before she felt his arms come up around her in return. His grip strong, but not hurtful as he clung to her. "...I can't do it..." he muttered lowly, his voice rough and scratchy yet Maggie could still hear him.

"What?" she asked, pulling back enough to look him in the face.

"I can't do it." Chris repeated, his tone matching the look in his eyes. "I can't protect them, Maggie. They trusted me to protect them, to lead them, but in the end all I'll do is get them killed."

A broken chuckle cracked up from the base of his throat, "I can't even keep a promise to a little girl, what good am I as a leader? You all are just better off leaving me here to rot. I'll only bring more problems for-"

 _SLAP!_

Chris blinked, his self-hating rant stopped cold when Maggie's palm cracked the side of his face.

Turning his head back, he saw tears spilling down her face. "Don't you _ever_ be talkin' like that again!" she hissed, her southern accent bleeding through highly with her emotions. "If it wasn't for you, everybody downstairs would be dead. You pulled these people through hell, kept them alive, and gave them hope. Now yer thinkin' about throwin' it all away?! That ain't the Chris I know!"

A tense staredown took place between the two of them for several moments before Maggie spoke again, "Most people these days only look out for themselves. But that isn't you. You're the most selfless, couragous, and damn near fearless man I know. And it shows with how you've been with Clementine."

Chris went to speak, but the southern-belle covered his mouth with her hand. "Deep down, you always knew there was a chance her parents were dead, didn't you?" she asked, getting a slow, hesitant nod. "Yet you also knew there was a chance they would be alive. And you kept that hope going for her as long as you could. I think her parents would be damn proud of the one who is giving everything to protect their little girl."

Maggie took her hand from the fighter's mouth and rested it gently against the cheek she struck, "You are a good man, Christopher Lachance. A man that I'm happy to have gotten to know...and fall for." she leaned up and kissed him softly, proving her words.

The fighter remained silent, soaking in the woman's words as he felt the whirlwind of emotions in his head finally settle. The feel of her lips, soft and warm, on his own brought him back into focus, his hands coming up to cup her face as he kissed back.

When they pulled apart, Chris managed a small smile. "I can't believe I lost it..." he trailed off when the southern-belle but a finger to his lips and went 'Shh.'

"Remember what I told you the other day?" she asked patiently. "You're just as human as the rest of us. You focus so much on giving strength to others that you save none for yourself You need to stop trying to shoulder the world on your own, it will kill you in the end."

Maggie ran her thumbs along his cheeks, smiling. "I'm here. No matter what happens, I'll stay with you to the end. But you need to promise me that you won't destroy yourself over what you can't control anymore. What happened in the past, what happened to others, isn't your fault and never will be. And if you feel like you're losing yourself again, come find me, and I will be there for you."

Chris stood up, taking the farmer girl with him before pulling her into a hug. Greatful to whatever existed above for sending him such an amazing person in this hellish world he had become apart of.

"Thank you." he said simply as he continued to hold her. Maggie merely smiled in return before their lips met again, light and chaste pecks becoming deeper with each contact until it became something else entirely.

The throbbing in the fighter's hands was long forgotten as he held the southern-belle's hips, her arms around his neck, fingers threading his hair as their tongues fought for dominance. A moan humming in the back of Maggie's throat when those same hands trailed up and stroked her sides and flat stomach.

Chris felt her hands leave his neck before his jacket slipped from his shoulders and landed on the floor. The farmer-girl working on slipping his shirt up as well, separating from one another long enough for her to get it over his head and toss it aside before diving back in again.

The couple started moving back, the fighter's legs hitting the edge of the bed before they fell back onto it. Both of them rolling to the side so that Maggie was beneath him, her hands crossing as she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulling it up and over her head before throwing it aside to reveal her upperbody, toned from all the work she'd done on her family's farm.

Pausing to admire the southern beauty sprawled out under him, Chris flashed her a charming smile before dipping down and kissing her again. His bigger form nestling between her legs as their hands started roaming.

"You sure about this?" he asked, knowing full well where everything was going.

Maggie smiled back at him, "If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't be doin' this." she said back, running her hands up and down his chest, "How 'bout you?"

The fighter's answer was a half-grin as his hand came up and gently gripped her left breast through the satin of her white bra. Maggie's eyes closed and a throaty moan pulled from her throat, her hips coming up and pressing against the hard length she could feel between them.

Her hands quickly went down to his pants and started undoing his belt, Chris following suit as he pulled down both her jeans and panties at the same time. Taking a moment to remove her boots and socks while getting out of the rest of his clothes, Maggie removing her bra as well leaving them both naked to one another.

"Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?" Chris asked, running his hands up her long, smooth legs. Taking in her warm skin and the shivers that ran through her as he reached her hips, going up and along her sides, over her breasts, along her arms down to her fingers. Taking in every part of her before trailing kisses from her belly up to her lips.

Maggie sighed in bliss at the treatment she was getting. It had been a long time since she'd been with anyone like this, and with how things were going she was intending on enjoying the moment as long as possible.

Her heart started pounding heavily when Chris' lips trailed back down her throat and started attacking her chest, teeth and tongue nibbling and flicking her nipples. Her moans getting louder to the point of putting her fist in her mouth to stiffle them.

Satisfied with the reactions he was getting, the fighter trailed his other hand down between their bodies and started slidding his fingers along her soaked slit. Maggie's body jerking with every pass at the bundle of nerves on the top, hips doing their best to meet his movements to gain more friction.

"Oh god...oh god..." the farmer girl gasped and moaned, her arms going around Chris' shoulder, nails racking at his back. "Ch-Chris! Sto-op teasin' me!" she pleaded with short breaths.

"What do you want?" Chris asked coyly, making a hickey on the sensitive flesh of her right breast.

Maggie's back arched off the bed, gasping sharply when she felt her climax fast approaching when he started thrusting a finger in and out of her tight channel. Her hand coming down and grabbing his member and squeezing. "Y-You! Inside me...now!"

Stopping his 'torture', Chris moved back up to her face and kissed her again. Moving back and giving her a look to make sure this was what she wanted. The southern-belle nodded, her legs coming up and wrapping around his waist, bringing him to her entrance, being all the answer he needed.

The fighter pushed forward, sliding into her tight heat and clenching the bedsheets on either side of them at the sensations. It had been a while for him too, and being inside Maggie was pleasure and torture for him at the same time.

Maggie winced at the intrustion and being stretched, it definietly had been too long. But when Chris was fully sheathed she had never felt more complete.

"You okay?" the fighter asked seeing her mild discomfort.

"Yeah, it's just...been a while. Gimme a second." she responded, moving her hips around a bit and gasping when her partner went a bit deeper as a result. "F-Fuck."

After a brief moment of adjustment, the couple started moving together. Thrusts quickly being met after a short time until the sounds of moaning and skin hitting skin was all that could be heard in the room.

Chris clenched his teeth when Maggie's inner muscles clenched him with each thrust, not wanting to let him out when he pulled back for another. While Maggie's eyes rolled when he hit just the right spot inside to make her see stars, her legs tightening around him when he suddenly sat up, bringing her with him as she started bouncing on his lap.

"M-More..." the farmer girl gasped as he drilled into her harder, "Oh god, fuck!"

"Shit, I'm about at my limit!" Chris said into the side of her neck, arms tight around her middle as he slammed into her from below.

"Chris! I...I'm..." the fighter quickly slammed his lips over Maggie's, swallowing her screams as she gripped him like a vice and came hard. The friction being enough to set him off as well, pumping her full as their combined juices leaked out.

They stayed like that for a few moments before collapsing onto the bed, Chris having enough mind to move off to the side so he didn't land on his lover as they laid side by side. Both breathing heavily with sweat covering them from their fun.

"...wow..." was all Chris could say as he looked at the woman beside him, a wide grin threatening to split his face.

"That...That just about covers it..." Maggie replied breathlessly with a lazy smile of her own, shifting over so that she could lay her head on the fighter's shoulder. "That was really something."

" _You're_ really something." Chris said back, kissing her forehead before doing the same to her lips. "Thank you."

"For the sex?" the southern-belle wondered.

"For being here, right now, with me." answered the fighter, his fingers trailing up and down her back softly. "For being you." he continued honestly.

Maggie smiled up at him, "I meant what I said. I really am fallin' for you Chris."

"Trust me, I feel the same." said Chris, holding her body closer to his, "You've given me another reason to keep fighting. You, and Clementine. No matter what, I'll protect you both."

No more words were exchanged as the couple enjoyed one anothers comfort. Drifting into a light slumber in each others arms.

X

A couple hours later, Chris stepped out of the bedroom fully dressed. Sending a gentle smile at Maggie who continued to sleep, deciding to let her rest a bit longer before they got ready to head out.

Closing the door quietly, the fighter took a deep breath before going to the study where Clementine had been the night before.

"Clem? You awake?" he asked as he opened the door and looked inside. But she wasn't there.

Curious, he closed the door and checked the other rooms with the same result. He went downstairs where everyone else was still asleep, checking everyroom there as well and not finding his charge anywhere.

A feeling of dread seeped into his stomach. Where did she go?

"Clementine? Clementine!" Chris called out into the backyard when he exited through the kitchen. His eyes scanning the whole yard before they settled on something infront of the shed. "...oh god."

Laying in the dirt...was Clementine's hat.

The fighter ran to the article, the dread seeping into his very bones as he picked it up and found her walkie-talkie laying beneath it. "CLEMENTINE!" he shouted. His voice echoing but receiving no response as he looked around frantically.

All the noise had drawn the attention of the rest of the group, who all came running out of the house to see what was going on.

"Chris?! What is it?! What's happening?!" said Kenny.

Chris turned around and showed the others Clementine's things, all of them looking horrified knowing that the girl went nowhere without her hat. "She's...She's gone...I..." the fighter swallowed his panic, trying to push it down deep so that he could focus on what they should do.

"Did she leave?" said Molly, equally worried about Clementine as everyone else.

"Where would she go?" added Mark.

"Wherever she went, we need to find her before the walkers do. Or worse..." said Christa.

Maggie came up beside Chris, putting a hand on his arm, "We'll find her." she vowed, making him ease just a little bit. "Did she give any idea where she might head?"

It took Chris a couple seconds, but then it hit him. "The Marsh House. She told me that's where her parents went when they came here. I'd bet anything that's where she would be going."

"Well then lets go get her!" Kenny said in all seriousness.

The group got ready to head inside when the walkie-talkie in the fighter's hand sparked to life;

 _ **"Chris?"**_ Clementine's small voice said through the speaker.

"Clem?" Chris said as he brought the walkie up, "Clem, where are you?! Are you okay?!"

 _ **"...Hello, Christopher."**_

Everyone froze when an unknown man's voice came over instead of Clementine's.

"Who the fuck is this?! WHERE'S CLEMENTINE?!" the fighter demanded.

 _ **"You should really watch that tone of yours. Clementine's fine. But if I were you, I'd choose my next words VERY carefully."**_ the unknown man warned.

Chris looked at the others, emotions ranging from fear, anger and worry flowing through each of them. "What the hell do you want?" he asked into the walkie.

 _ **"I want you to never hurt anybody again. This isn't a kidnapping, Chris."**_

"Then what the fuck would you call it?"

 _ **"A rescue. Someone like you is too dangerous for someone as innocent as Clementine to be around. All you do is hurt people...KILL people. So I'm ensuring she stays away from someone like you."**_

A blinding rage filled Chris to his very core as he mashed the talk button, "You listen to me you MOTHERFUCKER, if you lay a single finger on her I'll fucking BREAK YOU! You hear me?! You got an issue?! Than face me like a man! Don't take little girls and make weak threats through a damn radio!"

There was a long stretch of silence, everyone held their breath before the walkie crackled again;

 _ **"I forgot how stubborn you can be, if anything Clementine has told me is true. If you're so dead set on ruining her life...then come to US. You'll know where to go. And since I know that group of yours is listening in I'll make this clear."**_

 _ **"You. Come. Alone. If anybody else is with you when you get here...well...lets just say that you won't like the results. Good luck, Chris."**_

The radio went quiet, leaving a thick tension in the air around the group. Everyone looked at Chris and saw him glaring at the walkie, his body nearly vibrating with fury and damning retribution burning in his eyes.

That asshole took his little girl, he was going to get her back...and make the fucking bastard PAY.

 ** _A/N: You can only push a man so far, and taking someone they care about is a sure fire way of pushing them over the edge. The stranger has no idea who he is dealing with, and what lengths Chris is willing to go for Clementine._**

 ** _The next chapter is the season finale, and will be one that will set the ground work for the events to come in the future. So keep a lookout everyone._**


	18. Your Hand in Mine

**_A/N: And here we are, the long awaited, but much too soon, season finale. It's been a long time coming, and I'm glad that I could really bring this story to life since it was passed on to me. But enough gab, time to bring this arc of the tale to rest!_**

 ** _Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead_**

It is said that there are ten stages of anger, ranging from bothered to full blown rage. But after what had just transpired, Chris was on the brink of going over the last one into something else entirely.

Someone had taken Clementine in some self-deluded belief that he was 'rescuing her', had the BALLS to tell him that he was a danger to her, and threatened to keep her away from him. There was no force on Earth, in Heaven or Hell that would stop him from letting that happen.

Within seconds of the radio conversation ending, the fighter stormed back into the house and going straight for the groups collection of weapons. The others quickly following after him as he started taking out several items.

Chris didn't say a word as he loudly slapped a clip into a Glock-17 pistol and slipped it into the waistband of his jeans on his lower back. Picking up his hatchet and examining its sharp edge next.

"I want you all to gather our supplies and head to the train, like we planned." he said, his voice devoid of any emotion as he continued his task.

"Chris, you can't be serious." Kenny said, more than a little unnerved by the usually calm younger man's behavior. "Whatever this guys got planned it's a trap. We'll tag along, we'll help get Clem back."

The fisherman took a step back when Chris turned to him, the older man's eyes widening when he saw the barely contained fury bubbling just below the surface of his stone-like expression.

"No. This motherfucker crossed the line. He's _mine_." he all but rumbled dangerously, putting everyone on edge.

Maggied moved from her spot, approaching the fighter and looking him straight in the eye, "Chris, you need to calm down. You're scaring everyone." he opened his mouth to speak, but she put her hands on either side of her face and made him focus on her, "I know you're angry. You have every right to be. But you can't let that control you or your decisions." she reasoned.

A small bit of his rage drained as he looked at the group around them. Everyone watching with baited breath, as if afraid he was going to erupt any second. Chris took a deep breath, steadying his nerves enough before he spoke. "Sorry."

"We get it." Christa said in understanding. "Clementine's important to all of us. But you can't expect us to just let you go out there on your own."

"Forget the fact the whole city's filled with geeks." Molly added. "We have no idea what this fucker is capable of, or if he's even alone."

Mark nodded, "She's right. We all need to come up with a plan."

Chris shook his head, "You all heard him. If he sees that I'm not alone he could hurt Clem, or worse. I can't take that risk, not with her."

"So...what? You're just going to play right into his hands?" asked Kenny incredensiously.

"Sort of." replied the figher. "He's obviously been the one she's been talking to all this time, that's why he knows so much. But there are some things that even Clementine doesn't know, so neither does he. Which is an advantage I intend to use."

Carley crossed her arms, "I still think it's a bad idea, and I'm pretty sure everyone here agrees."

"Noted." said Chris as he went back to the weapons he had taken out. "I don't expect you guys to like it, and I know it sounds crazy-"

"Damn right it is." commented Omid.

"But it's the only thing that will ensure Clementine's unharmed." the fighter continued. "And for this to work completely, our exit from the city needs to be secured as well. Which is why I need you all to be at the train while I take care of this."

Everyone still looked very unsure of the plan, "How can we be sure that your idea will even work?" asked Katjaa.

Chris paused, wondering how to answer before deciding on the honest truth. "You don't. And if the worst happens, at least you guys are already out of Savannah."

"That's bullshit!" Kenny bellowed, crossing the room and getting into the younger man's face. "You expect us to just leave you behind if things go to shit?! Just like that?! No fucking way!"

"That's exactly what I expect." Chris said back, when he saw the fisherman wasn't backing down he pushed forward, "Ken, we've been through a lot. There was not a lot of people in the past I could trust with my life, but you, your family, and everyone else in this room became just that. So right now, I need you to trust me."

There was a long pause, Kenny's face softened solumnly as he shook his head. "I can say the same to you, Chris."

"You were never just a stranger." said Katjaa, coming up beside her husband with Duck. "You became family too. We owe you so much for all you've done for us."

"Us too." Carley threw in as she and Mark joined them. "This group wouldn't even exist if you hadn't taken the reigns and kept us going."

"You took us in, not expecting anything. And offered us even more." said Omid, his arm around Christa with Molly nodding beside them with a smile.

Maggie slipped her hand into his and squeezed gently, "You mean something to all of us in different ways." she said before whispering, "And so much more to me..."

Chris looked at everyone around him, a pleasant warmth spreading in his chest seeing how much they all looked to him. They may have been strangers at one point, but overtime they became something important to him. Something that he thought he had long since lost with how things happened in his own world.

A family.

Fighting back the emotions threatening to overwhelm him, the fighter nodded. "Thank you. And believe me when I say that you all truely mean something to me too. Which is why I don't want anyone to be put in more danger if I can help it."

A firey determination took hold of him then, "I will get Clementine back...and we're all getting the hell out of here. Together."

X

After another hour of talking things over, everyone eventually agreed to the plan. Albet still very reluctant.

Leaving Kenny incharge of the group to ensure they got to the train safely, and with Molly's help with the layout of the city, Chris started making his way to the hotel where he knew Clementine was being held captive. Using the rooftops to stay above the streets where the walkers ambled about.

The Marsh House was almost on the other side of Savannah, a good mile from where the safe house was. But moving from roof to roof cut down on the time greatly.

Despite a couple close calls, the fighter found himself on the top of a building right across the street from the hotel...a street that was filled with an enourmous mass of undead bodies that made it impossible to get to the other side without being noticed.

Observing the herd below, Chris tried to think of some way to get to the Marsh House without being torn to pieces. The weapons he brought wouldn't be enough to get through, and he didn't want to waste time trying to find another way.

While watching the walkers skulk about, and idea came to him. One that he couldn't believe he never considered before.

Moving to the other side of the rooftop, the fighter took the fire escape down to the ground level in the alley behind the building. Out of sight from the herd.

His eyes now trained on the two walkers in the alley with him, both of which turned and started moving toward him.

"Perfect." Chris said, taking out his hatchet and making quick work of both undead. Dragging both bodies further into the alley as to not be seen or heard by any others as he prepared to do what needed to be done.

Pulling out his knife, the fighter drove the blade down into the belly of one of the walkers and started cutting. Doing his best not to breathe through his nose as he dissected the corpse.

Up to this point, a lot of things about this world had been about the same. Right down to the fact that everyone was infected. If this was the case, then that meant the idea of 'walker camoflauge' was a viable one as well.

When he finished opening the body, Chris swallowed the bile in his throat before dunking his hands into the gorey mess. Taking out handfuls of rotten blood and flesh that he started to smear all over himself.

The strench was horrifying by itself. But it was that same stench that would ensure a safe passage through the walkers.

Making sure to only breathe through his mouth, the fighter grabbed another handful and kept at it. Covering his arms, chest, legs, even his face in the gore. Even going as far as to lay back on the opening he made in the zombie's torso and rolling back and forth a bit so he was completely covered.

When he was finished, Chris stood. Shivering a bit in disgust that he quickly locked down before he approached the opening of the alley. Knife gripped tightly in one hand, hatchet in the other, just incase as he stepped out into the open...

Nothing happened.

The hundreds of walkers that littered the street shambled right past him, completely oblivious to his presence.

 _"Thank fucking god this worked."_ he thought in relief. Keeping himself as calm as possible as he slowly moved into the herd. Making sure to avoid getting too close to any of the walkers while avoiding those that nearly bumped into him. The fighter's heart pounding loudly in his ears, eyes unblinking as he watched every single body that moved around him as he slipped through their ranks unnoticed.

One of them paused, looking in his direction and making him freeze in his tracks. His knuckles whitening as he clenched his hatchet, ready to fight and run if need be.

The walker growled before resuming its aimless gait in a different direction.

Breathing out through his nose, Chris started moving again. Drawing steadily closer to the entrance to the hotel with each slow step.

When the doors came into view, the fighter immediately took notice of a station wagon parked in the front. One that hadn't been stripped for parts by Crawford, and looked strangely familiar.

Slipping out of the crowd of walkers, he quietly stepped through the entrance of the hotel and found himself in the lobby. The tension in his body remaining firm as he looked around the empty room for anything out of the ordinary.

Approaching the front desk, Chris saw something written on the wood surface that looked very recent;

 **'Room 217'**

Switching his hatchet for his pistol, the fighter moved along the padded carpet to the door leading to the stairs, knowing better than to try the elevator as he slowly made his way up the steps to the next floor. Keeping his gun leveled as he swept around every corner, being sure that there wasn't any surprises laying in wait.

The darkened hallway of the second floor was silent, his footfalls nothing more than whispers as he treaded forward. Checking the numbers on the side of each door he passed until he came up on the one he was looking for.

Weapons ready, Chris kicked the door open and stormed inside...only to be greeted by an empty room.

It was a standard set up for a hotel room. There was a bed to the immediate left of the door, a dresser and desk against the farthest walls and two armchairs with a small table between them in the middle of the room.

Toward the back, the fighter saw a line of rope extending from the doorknob of a closet to the door that must have led to the bathroom.

Gun still raised, he approached the rope carefully, mindful to check the corners around him until he reached it. Now getting a better look, it looked like a makeshift lock to keep the door sealed from the outside. It had to be where Clementine was being held.

"Clem-"

 _"Click."_ The metallic sound of a gun's hammer being pulled stopped Chris' words. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a man standing there with a Beretta aimed at his head.

He was pale, greasy hair matted to his head wearing a brown-leather jacket. His face had a haunting look to it, dark marks under his sunken eyes from obvious lack of sleep. It was the look of a man that who was close to the edge.

"I got us adjoining rooms." the man said simply.

Chris turned around to face him, "Where is she?" he demanded quietly.

The stranger motioned to the door behind the fighter before taking in his bloody appearence, "You look horrible." he then motioned to the dresser next to them, "Go over there, put your things on the table."

"Let me out! Who's out there?!" Clementine shouted from behind the door.

Chris went to speak, but felt the barrel of the man's gun dig into the side of his head. "Shh." he whispered before speaking outloud. "Quiet please, sweetie!"

Anger burned through the younger man, "Let her go." he hissed dangerously.

The stranger just pointed at the dresser again, "Your things, there."

Not having any other choice, Chris set his pistol and knife down on the wood surface, along with Clementine's walkie-talkie and his hatchet. "Good. Now, go sit down." the man said, motioning to the two chairs on the other side of the room where they sat across from each other. "Do you know who I am?"

The fighter glared at him, "No, I don't."

"You wouldn't. People like you don't." replied the stranger. "I bet right now you're thinking, 'Who would have it out for me', huh? Some time ago, there was a station wagon in the forest. Full of all sorts of food, water, things you need to survive. Do you remember?"

Recognition hit the fighter like a bolt of lightning. That was where he remembered the car outside from, it was the same one he and the others took supplies from after the incident at the dairy farm.

"Yeah. I'm not some cannibal, Chris." the man continued, seeing that the younger man connected the dots. "Some killer out in the woods. Some v...villain. I'm just a...dad. I coach little league."

"I made a call..." Chris said, realizing that Clementine had been right back then, "I was looking out for my people. It looked abandoned-"

"But it wasn't." the stranger said with a sharp tone. "You stole from us! And because of YOU..." he trailed off, his enraged expression morphing to one of saddened calm. "I don't want you to say anything. I want you to know what happened."

They lapsed into a tense silence for a few moments, "Have you ever hurt somebody you care about?" the man asked.

"Yeah." Chris admitted honestly.

"Who?"

"My parents. Though they hurt me a lot more."

The stranger nodded to himself, "I hurt her so bad. My son, Adam, went missing. I took him out hunting even though my wife said he was too young. I figured he had to learn. I came back without him, and the look on her face said...'You are a MONSTER'. We all went out looking for him. We never found him...I hurt her, so bad..."

"And then we came back...and all our stuff was gone. You fucking did that. I could have earned her trust back if you hadn't made our situation so desperate."

Guilt ate away at Chris' stomach. The truth of knowing that his actions and decisions had indeed destroyed the lives of others making the anger he felt for the situation dull. "...I'm sorry." he said, despite knowing that it wouldn't change anything.

"The hungrier we got, the more she blamed me." the man continued. "Until she finally took our daughter, Elizabeth, and left. They didn't get far...I...found them a day later...in the road." he looked at the fighter. "Do I look like a monster to you?"

"We all do." Chris said lowly.

"Some more than others." said the stranger meaningfully. "I'm not like you. You let that little girl get fed disgusting human meat. You beat and brutally assault anyone who gets in your way! You steal to get what you want! How many times did that girl almost die because of you?!"

The guilt quickly washed away and the anger came back in an inferno, "You don't know me. You don't know what I would do for that little girl, for the people in our group!" Chris growled at the man, "You don't get to judge me, when you wouldn't have done any different!"

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WOULD'VE DONE!" the stranger bellowed, aiming his gun at the fighter, hand shaking. There was a long stretch of heavy silence before the weapon was lowered again.

"How the fuck do you know all this?" Chris asked pointedly.

The man reached into his coat pocket and produced a walkie-talkie, similar to Clementine's and set it on the table between them. " _You're_ a monster. A murderer and a thief. And I'm going to hurt you, so bad."

"You keep thinking that, asshole." Chris said back, fists clenched and body tense, ready to move in a moments notice. "Let Clementine go, I won't ask again."

"I'd rather kill her myself." the stranger snapped, "Because that's what will happen if she goes with you. When I first heard from Clementine, I was hellbent on coming after you, for revenge. But the more I heard about the things you did and the danger she was in...our plan changed."

He leaned forward, "Chris, listen to me. I need you to hear this before what happens next. I can take care of her. We can be a family. I know how to be a dad, you don't...I bet you don't even know how old she-"

"Nine." the fighter cut him off. "She had a birthday last week. And if you think for a moment I'm letting you walk out of here with her you're out of your goddamn mind."

"You can think that all you like." the stranger pointed his gun at him again, "But in the end, your simply just going to go away. And then Clementine and I can start a new family." he leaned forward and looked down into an open bowlingball bag that was on the floor infront of him. "Hey, honey, I think this-"

Chris was out of his chair and struck like a serpent. Spearing the man in the stomach and knocking him and the chair over, sending them both spilling to the ground with the stranger's gun clattering cross the floor.

Rolling to his feet quick, the fighter blocked a wide punch aimed for his head. Grabbing the man's arm and twisting it violently to the side and punching up into his elbow, hearing a loud snap.

The stranger shouted in pain as his arm broke, giving Chris the time to yank the spare knife he started keeping in his boot and drove it hard into his stomach. The man gasped, grabbing the younger man's shoulder as the blade was pulled out and stabbed forward again and again.

With rage fueling his actions, Chris tossed the knife aside and threw the kidnapper into the wall before delivering blow after blow to his face. "You! Sick! Fucking! BASTARD!" he roared with each hit that struck home. "You're going to pay for taking her!" The fighter wrapped his hands around the man's neck, choking the life out of him while bashing his head against the wall behind him

Gagging from lack of oxygen, the stranger tried to scratch at Chris' face. But the younger man wasn't having it. Spinning around so that he had the man in a chokehold from behind, one arm across his throat and the other across his forehead, the fighter applied even more pressure while the kidnapper kicked and flailed.

Seconds passed, but Chris wouldn't let up. Using all of his strength and squeezing harder and harder...until;

 _'Crunch!'_

The stranger went limp immediately, like a ragdoll without strings.

Releasing the body to collapse onto the floor, the fighter dropped down as well. Sitting on the carpet and breathing heavily as the adrenaline started to ware off. He'd killed several people already, but this was the first time he did so with his bare hands, and the feeling it left him with wasn't a pleasant one.

But it was something he had no choice in, the man was going to kill him and take Clementine to God only knew where. Chris may have been at fault for taking the man's supplies all that time ago, but he'd be damned if he let the fucker run off with his charge with some twisted sense of having a family again.

In the now silent room, he just barely heard the sound of a door opening. Turning to see the rope that had been strung up falling away, he found Clementine standing in the doorway. Her eyes looking at the man that had taken her before landing on Chris who remained seated.

A second later she was in his arms, sobbing into his bloodied shoulder.

"I got you." Chris said, relief filling his heart as he held her in his arms again. "I got you, baby-girl."

"I'm sorry..." Clementine continued to cry, "I'm sorry I ran away...I'm sorry for what I said...please don't hate me..."

The fighter pulled away from his charge and looked her in the eye, "I would never hate you, Clem. And what's important is that you're okay, that's all that matters to me." he said, using a thumb to wipe away some of her tears. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

She shook her head, "No, not really. He...He said he had my parents. But he never had them...he was trying to take me away from everybody. He said I'd never see you again." her shoulders started to shake and Chris pulled her into another comforting hug.

"It's okay, Clementine. I'm not going anywhere. I promised that I would always be there to protect you. And I never go back on my word." her guardian said softly as they stayed like that for a while.

When he was sure Clementine had calmed down enough, Chris released her so they could speak. "We need to get out of here, Clem. The others are waiting for us by the train."

The girl nodded, her nose wrinkling before she covered it. "You smell really bad."

A laugh burst from Chris as he looked down at himself, "Yeah, it's how I got past the walkers outside." looking up at her, "And...it's how we're going to have to get by them on the way out of Savannah."

Clementine's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"I'll explain later, for now." the fighter reached into his jacket and produced her hat, "I think you dropped this."

His charge beamed, "I thought I lost it forever." she said, happily taking it and putting it on her head.

"I thought _I_ had lost _you_ forever." Chris said back. He looked out the window and saw the sky starting to darken more than it had when he was on the way here. "We need to go, sweetheart. We'll talk more when we're somewhere safer."

Quickly gathering everything, the fighter being sure to take the stranger's gun, ammo and the other walkie he had on him, the duo made for the door...opening it to find a walker standing on the other side. The noise from the fight more than likely having attracted its attention from another room.

Given that Chris was still covered in walker-gore, the undead bypassed him and went for Clementine. But the fighter quickly grabbed it by the back of the neck and crushed its face against the doorframe.

"It didn't see you." the little girl said in surprise.

"It's because I smell like them, Clementine. With all the gunk I'm covered in." Chris said as he crouched down beside the downed walker, looking back at her with an uneasy smile, "Now...this next part you really aren't going to like. But it's the only way we can get out of the city without the herd outside tearing us to pieces."

Before Clementine could even ask, her guardian took out his knife and started cutting into the corpse. Opening its belly enough so that he could reach in and pull out a line of intenstines. The girl paled more than a bit when she put together what was happening, just before Chris started smearing the blood and guts across her front.

"...Ewwwwww..." she whimpered, closing her eyes and doing her best not to breathe through her nose.

"Just bare with it for a little while. We'll wash off when we're away from the walkers." the fighter said, turning her around so that he could do her back as well, being sure that enough of her was covered before reapplying more to himself.

With the disgusting task done, Chris faced his charge who looked miserable at being covered in walker guts. "Stick close, walk slow, and stay very calm. We'll blend right in." he said while standing and overing her his hand.

Clementine looked up at him, giving a small smiled back as she reached out and took said hand as they headed down to the lobby together. Taking a deep breath as she was led outside.

The duo paused as they observed the herd still milling around in the street. The low rumbling of thunder echoed from above, telling them that a storm was coming.

 _"Shit. If it rains while we're out here we're screwed."_ Chris thought as he looked up at the dark, cloudy sky. He looked down at Clem, her hand tightly gripping his as she stared wide-eyed at all of the undead around them.

"Stay focused, Clem." he whispered. "Remember, slow and steady." with that being said, the stepped out into the crowd. Huddling close together as they stepped and weaved around the walkers, avoiding them as much as possible and going through whatever openings there were within the herd.

Everything was going good, they were almost halfway through when Clementine suddenly stopped. Chris quickly did the same and looked down to see her staring off into the herd away from them. "Clem, what's..." the fighter trailed off when he followed her line of sight.

Roughly two meters away a pair of walkers stood close together, a man and a woman, and despite their decaying appearences their features were still very clear. And the resemblences they shared with the little girl beside him couldn't be denied...

They found Clementine's parents...

"Don't look at them, Clem." Chris said, pulling Clementine into his side as he started leading her away. He could feel her body trembling, fighting back the grief and sadness as best she could so that they weren't given away to the walkers around them.

It was a horrible situation, but the fighter had to keep them moving, had to keep Clementine alive and safe. He owed that much to her mother and father.

Then, as if the universe itself was telling him that things could always get worse, a drop of water landed on his head.

"No..." he muttered, looking up just as more started falling around them. The rain starting to get heavier and heavier until it had become a torrent, the blood covering him and his charge had begun washing off with each step taken to the point the walkers around them started to take notice.

"Ch-Chris?" Clementine stuttered when she started to see all of the attention they were starting to get.

"I know, keep moving." Chris whispered back, both of them picking up the pace a bit to avoid being caught out in the storm. But as they kept moving he started to see several undead start to follow after them, the number steadily growing. "Clem...run!" he said, whipping around and slamming the blade of his hatchet into the side of a walker's head when it lunged after them.

Yanking the weapon free, the fighter turned and shoved his way through the horde. Seeing Clementine avoiding the grabbing hands reaching for her thanks in part to her smaller height as she kept low.

Delivering a solid kick to another walker's chest, sending it staggering back into the crowd and making an opening, Chris bolted through. Hacking and slashing any others that tried to get in his way until he managed to break free of the herd, finding his charge a few feet away pulling up a large metal shutter covering a shop's entrance.

"Chris! Over here!" she called out when she managed to get it open enough for her to slip under.

Chopping down one last walker, Chris ran to the door, dropped down and rolled underneath it. Quickly coming up and grabbing the handle of the shutter and slamming it down on the rotten hands that were attempting to reach after them.

When he was sure that the walkers couldn't get through, he cast a look at his charge who stood off to the side of the sealed entrance. "Nice save, Clem." he said grinning.

"W-Will they be able to get in?" Clementine asked as the banging from the walkers on the other side echoed through the small jewelry store they were now taking refuge in.

"For now, but the shutter won't be able to take too much punishment for too long." the fighter said as he stood up to his full height and looked around the shop. "We need to find another way out of here, there might be a way in the back." he started making his way to the back of the store, but stopped when he saw his charge wasn't following him.

The little girl's eyes were cast to the floor, arms wrapped tightly around herself while she shivered. "Clem?" Chris asked in concern.

Clementine looked up at him, tears streaming down he reddened eyes. "M-My parents...I...I saw them out there...they're..."

Chris crossed the room and scooped her up in his arms, holding her tight to his chest as she started crying in grief. "I know, baby-girl. I know." said, softly rubbing her back. "Don't let what they've become change the good memories you have of them, Clementine. I know for a fact that they loved you very much, and would want you to keep living on for them."

His charge sniffled in his arms, "P-Promise me that you won't leave me...please..."

"I'll never leave you, sweetheart." the fighter said, kissing the top of her head. "No matter what happens, no matter what it takes, I won't leave you alone. I know I can't replace..." he paused, being sure not to say something to hurt her even more. "I know I can't replace them, Clem. But I will be there for you for as long as you need me. Despite everything we've been through, we're a family. And nothing will take that away from us."

They stayed like that for several long moments, taking the time to collect themselves before Chris spoke again, "We need to focus on getting out of here, okay? We need to get back to the others."

Clementine nodded as he set her back down and they headed to the back of the store. Chris took out his Glock and shot the guard-turned-walker that was on the other side of the locked door before using his elbow to smash out the window to unlock it. From there, he removed the man's utility belt and used it to house his own weapons before giving the gun he got from the stranger to his charge.

"Remember what I taught you, okay?" he said as she took the Beretta in her hands. Removing the ring of keys the guard had on him and using them to unlock the back door that would take them out to the alley behind the building.

The door swung open to reveal a pair of walkers standing out in the rain, they swung around at the noise only to be greeted with a pair of rounds drilling through their foreheads from guardian and charge respectively.

X (Note: Play "State of my Head" by Shinedown) X

Several hours later, the rain stopped. The cool, crisp breeze of autumn air slowly swept over the landscape. Kicking up leaves and twigs, sending them lazily through the air amongst the field of tall-yellow grass. Dusk had begun to fall over the landscape, painting the skies a collection of orange, purple and red hues as the sun slowly began to set over the horizon.

The nine survivors all sat in and around the train, their eyes all looking in the general direction of Savannah as they waited for any sign of their friend/leader and the little girl he went in search for.

Kenny sat in the driver's seat of the engine car, calm on the outside by anxious on the inside. The wait was bad, and was getting to everyone. Chris had told them to leave the area if he wasn't back with Clementine by sundown.

But the old fisherman was stubborn, Chris never gave up on any of them, and he'd be damned if he gave up on him.

The younger man wasn't just their leader and friend, he was a lot more than that. He was the glue that held them together, the driving force that kept them going. Keeping their hope alive and giving them all something worth surviving for.

He cast a look at Maggie who was watching the horizon along with everyone else. The farmer girl obviously had it bad for the fighter, and the feeling was mutual, everyone in the group could see it as clear as day. Kenny couldn't help but smile at that, the two kids deserved each other, and after everything she'd been through, Clementine could use a stable family again.

Despite the hell they all have endured, that was exactly what they all were to each other. A family. And like any family, they would do whatever it took for one another, no matter what.

Kenny was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Omid calling out from the top of the train. Everyone looked where he was pointing and they saw someone approaching from the city. At first no one could make them out, but as they drew closer they saw that all the waiting had paid off big time.

Chris walked with long, tired strides. Clementine in his arms fast asleep as he headed toward the train. The group came out and greeted him half way with hugs and pats on the back. Katjaa managed to take the sleeping girl off his arms in time for Maggie to nearly tackle him with her own embrace, her lips nearly fusing to his in a searing kiss.

They were all together again, and everything felt right in the world for once.

When all was said and done, the now complete group got back onto the train. Kenny taking the helm with his wife and son as he started it back up, the locomotive hissing before it began rumbling down the tracks.

In the boxcar, the others all got comfortable for the long trip ahead of them. Caley sat with her back to the wall beside Mark, the two having a calm conversation between one another.

Christa and Omid sat cuddled together, the persian-amercian man resting his hand over the taller woman's stomach as they smiled warmly. They hadn't had the chance to tell their new group about their news, but they knew that everyone would be there to support them. And they thanked whatever force brought them all together in the end.

Molly sat alone, her feet dangling above the moving ground outside the train while she gazed down at a picture in her hand. One that depicted a 14-year-old girl that she had picked up back in Crawford. The only thing she had left that reminded her of her little sister. The blonde made a promise then and there that she would keep pressing on, for the both of them and the new group that had taken her in.

In the engine car, Katjaa sat in the spare seat. Duck asleep in her lap as she watched her husband drive the train. She never believed that the horrible events that took place on their way back to Florida would lead to this, but in the end, she was at the very least glad that they were with such good people that made them feel so welcome. Like their family had grown in such big ways and proved that perhaps there was a future for them afterall.

At the very front of the train behind the handrail, Chris sat beside Maggie, Clementine curled up between them while they had their arms around one another.

They all had been through a lot together...been through hell and then some. But through it all they had endured, they had thrived, but most of all they had survived. They'd made friends, lost friends, and took everything that this horrifying world had thrown at them and still managed to make it through.

The fighter's heart went out to the ones they had lost along the way, each one of them brave in their own ways and would forever be remembered. But they had to push on, keep moving forward, and stay one step ahead of the never ending plague that surrounded them on all sides.

This was only just the beginning, Chris knew that much, but no matter what the future held for him and his group, he'd do whatever he could to ensure that they continued to live.

Looking at the two beside him, knowing that he had so much more to protect now than he ever had in his original life, gave him a much bigger sense of purpose. A reason to keep fighting every day.

Placing a kiss on Clementine's head before placing another on Maggie's lips, the fighter looked out at the horizon with determination in his gaze.

It would always be a fight for survival out there in the world, but it was one he was intending on winning.

No matter what.

 ** _A/N: Annnnnnd...CUT! That's all she wrote for season 1._**

 ** _I wanted to thank all you readers and reviewers who helped me keep this going. And don't worry, season 2 is already in the planning stages. Infact, I'm also posting the trailer for it right after I post this chapter, so be sure to read it to get a taste of what is in store._**

 ** _Until next time everybody. I'll keep you all in the loop about future updates._**


	19. Season 2 Trailer

_**"Ever since I woke up here...I've done everything I could to stay alive."**_

Shows Chris standing amongst a dozens of dead walkers.

 _ **"I became a father completely out of the blue."**_

An older Clementine, pistol in one hand, knife in the other as she finished off another undead.

 _ **"I became a leader, because I knew how to survive, how to fight."**_

Several people standing together before him, ready to work together to do what needed to be done.

 _ **"In order to keep everything I care about safe, I need to do whatever I it takes to protect them."**_

"...No! Please!" Chris looked down at the wounded man impassively as he raised his gun and shot him in the head.

 **("Black" Kari Kimmel)**

"You sure this place is secure?" asked Omid, the group seated around a large fire.

"Comepared to the places we've been, it might as well be Fort Knox." answered Chris with his arm wrapped around Maggie's shoulders, Clementine smiling at both of them.

 **The group enters a massive prison filled with walkers. Everyone shooting, stabbing and slashing every undead that moved.**

"The place was designed to keep folks in, how are we going to make sure to keep them out?" wondered Kenny.

 **Everyone storming the catacombs with guns drawn and flashlights active. Wave after wave of walkers coming at them that they fended off as best they could.**

"We can take this place." said Chris strongly. "We clear out the dead, reinforce the gates and walls, fill it with all the supplies we find, and we'll be golden."

"What if others find this place?" asked Carley.

 **A small convoy of vehicles approach the gates.**

"Then we'll deal with them like so many others in the past."

 **Chris standing in the center of the large field outside the prison with his group behind him, facing the older man standing before him with his own group.**

"Chris Lachance." he introduced himself.

The other man nodded, hand on the .357 Magnum at his side, "Rick Grimes."

 **Both groups sitting together in the prison's cafeteria.**

"We all work together, we can really make something of this place." said Chris as he stood in the warden's office.

"I'm not sure I completely trust you." said Rick.

"Then it's a good thing we got nothing but time to figure our shit out." the fighter replied.

 **The two men stood back to back, slashing at the herd of walkers that surrounded them.**

"So he trained you, huh?" Carl asked.

 **Clementine taking out a walker by kicking it in the back of the knees before stabbing it in the back of the head,**

"Yeah, he did." replied Clementine.

"How can you be so sure that he can lead this group?" Lori said as she rubbed her swollen stomach.

"We're all alive because of him, that's reason enough." said Christa in her friend's defense.

 **Chris looking down at a large map of the local area.**

"Chris seems distracted lately, any idea why?" asked Glenn.

 **Fingers tracing over a spot on the map that read 'Woodbury'.**

"I'm not sure. But I intend to find out." said Maggie.

 **Walkers attacked the two groups, forcing them to team up and fight them off with everything they had.**

"At the end of the day, we need to have faith in those around us if we intend to survive." said Hershel.

 **Rick storming out of the prison, covered in blood holding an axe only for Chris to stand in his path.**

"We need to work together. Form trust." said Kenny.

 **The two leaders exchanging blows back and forth, moving away from each other and drawing their respected sidearms on one another.**

"I'll do whatever it takes to keep my people, my family safe." Chris said without hesitation.

"So would I." Rick replied just as strongly.

"I'm just scared how far you're pushing yourself." Maggie said as she stroked her lover's face.

Chris kissed her, "You and Clementine are my reasons for living. I'll do everything I have to, to keep you both and the others alive."

"A man can only take so much before he breaks."

 **Chris firing two pistols into a crowd of walkers, his face a mask of stone.**

"And when he does...there is no force on Earth that can stop them."

 **Rick bashing his way down a long corridor, dead set on getting to the end no matter what was in his way.**

"I guess the question is...which will be worse in the end..."

 **In a dark room with a single lightbulb, a bruised and bloody Chris was strapped to a chair as a man stood over him.**

"You really think you and those others can stand a chance against what I got?"

 **The fighter glared at him with his one good eye in defiance.**

"I'm just getting warmed up!"

 _ **THE WALKING DEAD: FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL - SEASON 2**_

 _ **COMING SOON...**_


End file.
